Fairy Tail: Tale of the Shining Stars
by puffypuffin3
Summary: A new guild appears by the name of Stella Luminosa, seeking the aid of Fairy Tail, the number one guild in Fiore, in order to defeat the dark guild Ombra Drakon and recover a dangerous tablet, said to contain an evil celestial spirit. Though it seems that Ombra Drakon is just one of many dark guilds that Stella Luminosa will face throughout the series.
1. A Fairy Unexpected Meeting

**Okay this is my first fan-fic. I don't mind honest feedback though, as long as it's not rude. It's about Fairy Tail helping an original guild called Stella Luminosa to defeat a dark guild named Ombra Drakon. My story will be mainly action, with some romance. Mainly action and adventure though. Takes place after the GMGs, when Fairy Tail starts getting a bunch of requests, and before the Sun Village Arc. Thank you for reading. **

It was a beautiful summer afternoon in mid-July. The small town of Yucca was filled with people running about their own business, weaving through the streets and glancing lazily at the window displays of several shops. Many moved on quickly, enjoying the summer breeze far more than any window shopping. Most of the tourists were not in town, rather, they would head to a building just a little while out of town. They would all walk to the door of the guild, notice the "closed" sign, then walk off, muttering in disappointment. This particular mages' guild was closed due to an emergency, which the occupants were currently discussing.

The guild looked like a typical guild, with a bar that served as the business desk and had the request board behind it. A carpet was rolled out in front of the door and several tables and chairs were placed around the entrance hall, but were a bit nicer than most found in guilds, giving it a more formal appearance, like that of a restaurant. There were even some booths by the wall and a lacrima vision on the left wall, making for a very comfortable rest stop for visitors. A staircase was located in the back, and the door to the left led to a bathroom. A large chandelier hung down from the ceiling, and the door next to the bar led to a dining room and kitchen. It was in the dining room where the guild held their meeting.

"How!" yelled a woman with long black-blue hair. "How could we lose with all of us fighting!?"

Eleven people were sitting in the dining room, and sitting at the head of the table was said blue haired woman. She was the oldest member there, possibly in her late forties or early fifties, and the rest of the group consisted of teenagers.

"Well," mumbled a small girl of about thirteen with light blue hair, "there were ten versus six, so almost two-on-one. Not to mention Dela and I are mainly support mages. We have only a 23% chance of winning-

"This is no time for your technicalities Vidya!" scolded the woman. She got up from her chair and began to pace back and forth nervously, her anxiety overriding her anger.

"Guildmaster, we were caught by surprise-

"No excuses! That won't help us get the tablet back! We must go after them!"

"We're not nearly powerful enough," protested a boy with black hair. They were all bandaged, but whoever their healer was did a very crummy job. Some of the more injured members could barely move because their bandages were done up so tightly. Only their guildmaster appeared to be unscathed, though her stress made her look worse.

"Even with your help we were still beaten, we barely escaped," said a girl with mahogany hair.

"Not to mention some of us are severely injured. Even when Orion gets here, some of us will have to sit out the next battle," pointed out a small boy with green hair.

"We must remain calm and think of a plan," said one boy with golden hair.

"Of all the times for Yerik to be out-

"I'm here," pointed out a boy with brown hair.

"Don't start Romano," said a girl with blonde hair.

"We missed the Grand Magic Games to track them, but we were creamed," complained a girl with auburn hair.

"Let's not even-

"Hey you guys!" interrupted a boy as he calmly strolled into the guild, flier in hand and grin on his face, so painfully oblivious of the calamity that had just occurred.

"Oh, Orion your here," muttered the boy named Romano, clearly agitated. Orion was nice and a good mage, but he was an idiot, and his stupidity would not help at the moment.

"About time," grumbled the blonde girl. "Valda had to bandage our wounds."

"Wimps." mumbled the girl with mahogany hair.

"That's why you guys are glum? We should be celebrating!" Orion responded cheerily. "Guess who just won the Magic Games?"

"Oh I don't know," said the black-haired boy sarcastically, "Sabertooth?"

"Nope! Fairy Tail!" Orion exclaimed like a kid on a sugar-rush.

"..."

"Fairy Tail?"

"The once great guild, that fell to the bottom over seven years?"

"That's the one."

"Hm," said the guildmaster pensively, "Fairy Tail...they may be able to help us."

"Begging your pardon?"

* * *

Lucy stumbled down the street on her way to her apartment. She had just returned from a particularly difficult job. It wasn't a hard job, but any job with Natsu and the others was difficult. She sighed at the very thought as she clambered up the stairs. Sure it was nice to have such great friends, she thought, but it would be great if they weren't so unruly and didn't have such ridiculous tendencies.

"Such as breaking into my apartment," she said bitterly as she spotted the door slightly ajar.

She braced herself, then pushed the door open only to find two absolute strangers casually lounging on the couch. One was a rather good-looking boy with brown hair, a classy black jacket, and black pants. Next to him was a petite girl dressed in a plain white shirt and brown pants with auburn hair pulled back into a ponytail. The two were muttering unintelligible words to each other until the boy spotted Lucy, mouth agape, standing at the doorway. He smiled pleasantly and got up with his hand outstretched towards Lucy.

"Ah, you must be-

"WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE!" Lucy yelled at the top of her lungs.

The boy appeared disturbed by this type of greeting. "Erm-

"You must be thieves! Or kidnappers!" Lucy continued as she pulled out a golden key. "Open! Gate of the Ram! Aries!"

Aries materialized muttering an apology, however the two unwelcomed guests did not appear to be surprised. The girl sprang up from the couch and held up her hands in surrender, but the boy seemed to welcome this challenge.

"I'd rather not fight you Lucy-san," he said as a double-bladed spear appeared in his hand.

"Romano please!" squeaked the girl latching onto his arm. "We are here to convince Fairy Tail to help us. We must not-

"Yo Lucy!" Natsu interrupted as he opened the window. For a second, he froze as he spotted the two strangers, one with a weapon in his hand, facing Lucy.

"Who the he-

"Natsu there's a door for a reason!" Erza yelled as she kicked it down. She paused for a moment as well and Gray came down the chimney a few moments later.

"Hey Lucy-

The three members of Fairy Tail remained petrified, until Natsu stepped forward, his hand ablaze. "These guys are obviously a threat, so what are we waiting for?"

"PLEASE don't start fighting," said the girl stepping between Romano, Natsu and Aries. She seemed just as nervous as Aries, yet confident enough to intercede. "I'm sorry we broke into your house, but we asked for Lucy at your guild and Mirajane told us your address. Our guild needs your help-

"Oh yeah, and breaking into someone's house and then threatening them is _really _the best way to ask for help," Gray interjected.

"Look," Romano sighed as he lowered his weapon, "we were going to explain this to Lucy-san, but then she summoned her spirit and I saw fit to defend myself."

"And how can we trust you when you go around breaking into people's homes?" Natsu said.

"Look who's talking," Romano shot back. True it was not acceptable for strangers to break into one's house, but what kind of friends did that!

"You wanna go?"

"Bring it on." Romano couldn't help but grin and his voice had an edge of enthusiasm. What better way to see Natsu's moves than by fighting him?

Natsu aimed a Fist of the Fire Dragon at Romano, which he dodged with ease. He chucked his spear, which Natsu caught and burned up, however, he did not notice the throwing knives until he was pinned to the wall. He managed to pull himself free from the wall by slipping off his vest.

"Oh yeah, well try this! Crimson Lotus-

"No Natsu!" exclaimed Lucy. "Not here!"

"-Exploding Flame Blade!"

The cyclone of fire surrounded Natsu, and spread out towards Romano. Lucy began freaking out as she imagined the entire building would soon go up in flames, however, the flames merely hit the wall and furniture without igniting anything.

"How in the-

"Don't worry," winked the girl. "I've made the walls and furniture in this room fire-proof."

"How-

"Dela! I could have used some help then and there," Romano panted, having taken the full brunt of the attack.

"Sorry!"

"No matter," he shrugged. "Now watch this Natsu-san. Requip. Water Blades!"

Blue broadswords appeared in Romano's hand as he triumphantly brandished them. The hilt was green as it was wrapped in seaweed. The curved blades were split into two shades of blue: turquoise and aquamarine.

"I'll extinguish your flames, so I dare you to attack."

"I'd like to see you try and beat my flames," Natsu grinned. "Roar of the Fire Dragon!"

Romano threw one of the swords at the attack, slicing threw it and leaving steam behind it. The blade would have skewered Natsu if he hadn't hit it away with his Fist of the Fire Dragon. Unfortunately, the blade almost hit Gray instead, who also dodged it and it impaled the wall instead. Romano was holding off Natsu's attack with his other water blade, but it wasn't strong enough. A huge column of steam rose up as the attacks seemed to cancel each other out, however, the fire was slowly overpowering Romano, until his sword shattered and he was sent flying by the attack. His hand was bleeding where a sliver of his broken sword had impaled it.

"That's it," Gray said, clearly angry at the fact that the sword nearly killed him earlier, "let me handle this Natsu! Ice Make! Lances!"

The attacks hit Romano, but they appeared to have no affect at all. The nearby furniture was demolished by Gray's attack, causing dust to and debris to fly up in all directions. As the dust cleared up, Gray saw that a large, thick turquoise shield had materialized and protected Romano.

"Ice Resistant Shield," said the girl.

"Thanks Del," huffed Romano. "About time you started helping in this battle-

"No! We must not-

"Will you idiots quit your bickering and stop fighting before you destroy my house!" Lucy yelled. "Aries, get them!"

"I'm sorry. Wool Wall!"

The fluffy pink wool enveloped the entire room, preventing anyone from moving. Natsu and Gray attempted to get out of the cushy wool, but to no avail.

"Damn it Lucy! Why us too!?"

"Will you two shut up," Erza shouted having been leaning at the doorway and watching the entire spectacle. "We should at least hear these two out."

"But-

"No buts!" Erza said sternly, and Gray and Natsu didn't dare to argue.

Lucy closed the gate and, with the help of everyone, tidied up her apartment. Natsu dislodged his vest from the wall and grumbled about the holes Romano had made in it. Romano grumbled about the burns on his jacket Natsu had made. They all sat down to hear what the strangers had to say.

"Um, introductions then," Romano mumbled. "I'm Romano Alvarez, a Weapon Mage, and this is Delaraz Jacobs, a Defense Mage. Of course, I call her Dela or Del. We're from the small guild Stella Luminosa, and we were sent to get help from Fairy Tail to fight the dark guild Ombra Drakon and recover a very important tablet that-

"Yo Romano! Dela!" said a black-haired boy as he poked his head over the windowsill. Everyone in the room was taken aback by the random appearance of the boy. "I finally found you guys! We've been looking everywhere! Guildmaster told us to stick together-

"Oi Orion!" yelled a voice coming from outside, probably below the window. "Hurry up and get those idiots! We need to find the members of Fairy-

"No need Korro!" replied the boy named Orion. "Here they are! I'd recognize them anywhere!"

"In which case hurry up and climb in!"

Soon, three people climbed in through the window, two were boys and one was a girl. The first boy named Orion had black hair and wore a tan knitted sweater, black pants, brown shoes and a friendly grin. He seemed sweet and cute with big black puppy-like eyes, but absolutely empty-headed and with no fashion sense. The other boy also had black hair that was brushed back with a few bangs poking out and his hair curling around his collar and almost reaching his shoulders. Like Orion, he had black eyes, but they seemed far from friendly. He was dressed in a white shirt, black pants, and black trenchcoat, along with a green scarf and a very serious and stern look that rivaled Erza's. The girl seemed so out of place though, with her blonde hair, flowing down in waves, red dress that reached her knees, and even a pretty red poppy in her hair to match.

"These are some of our guildmates," Romano said, gesturing to the three intruders. "That's Orion, Korro and Lena."

"Pleasure to meet you guys!" Orion said smiling so sweetly it would give one diabetes. Normally, Lucy would be furious that three strangers just climbed through her window without hesitation, but looking at Orion's goofy grin, she found herself unable to stay angry at the kid.

"What part of 'stick together' do you not understand Romano?" Korro asked angrily.

"Well-

"You do know that Valda is at Fairy Tail's guild waiting for us," Lena added. Looks of horror suddenly came over Romano and Delaraz's faces.

"V-Valda?"

"Yes, yes. You guys are so dead."

"Oh dear, we're in trouble," Delaraz mumbled.

"We have to go, might as well tell their entire guild about our mission," Romano said, getting up.

"True," Erza agreed, "if we do agree to help you out, we must inform our guildmaster first since it involves a dark guild."

"Let's go then!" Natsu yelled excitedly as he jumped out the window.

"USE THE DOOR!" Lucy yelled.

* * *

"Ooh! You guys have such a nice guild," Orion said, glancing around and waving to each and every person who turned around towards their direction. Few waved back, and most did so with awkward and confused expressions on their faces.

Lucy was the first to spot them. A tough looking girl was seated at the bar currently in a deep conversation with Mira. She had mahogany hair tied back and wore a red tank-top along with combat pants and boots. She was tan and well built, though not exactly muscular, she still looked intimidating. Next to her, looking rather bored, were two kids a little older then Wendy. One was a boy with short green hair with his bangs swept to the side where they stuck up slightly. He had forest green eyes and was dressed in all brown hoodie and cargo shorts, along with matching gloves and knee-high boots. The other was a girl with light blue hair pulled into messy ponytails that were draped over her shoulders. She was dressed in a plain white robe tied off with a blue sash and had light blue, almost white, sneakers underneath. Suddenly, Mira stopped talking to the girl and pointed at Lucy and the others who had just arrived.

"Oh look Valda-san, they just arrived."

"Indeed, hopefully we won't break any of the guild's property. If so, I apologize Mira-san."

"No problem. Happens all the time anyway."

"Valda-san," began the young boy lazily, as though he was putting minimal effort into his argument, knowing it would be pointless, "can't you just-

"Forgive them?" she scoffed. "No way Yves, and don't try to back him up Vidya."

"I know that that would simply be in vain," replied the girl, casually drinking the orange juice Mira had given her. "It would be illogical to even try."

The girl named Valda got up slowly and began walking towards them calmly. Romano looked very unnerved by this. He boldly stepped towards Valda and braced himself.

"Valda-san I can explain-

"NO YOU CAN'T!" she yelled as she grabbed him by his collar "We _told _you to wait, but _no, _you ALWAYS have to go off on your own-

"That's not true," piped up Delaraz. "I went with Romano."

Valda turned angrily towards Dela, causing the latter to flinch. "Don't think I won't beat you up Del because-

"Don't you _dare _threaten Dela!" Romano yelled, regaining his confidence. Delaraz was his best friend, and since she never stood up for herself, he had to.

"Don't you _dare _talk back to _me _or I'll-

"I'd like to see you try!"

"Quickly Lena!" Orion said. "Calm them down!"

"Sure thing! Equip! Flute!" she exclaimed as a small silver flute appeared in her hand. "Song of Serenity!" She began to play a lovely tune that floated throughout the entire guild, silencing all the arguments. Valda and Romano seemed to calm down, so Lena stopped playing to see if they would erupt back into fury.

"Sorry Valda-san I-

"No need, I am the one who should be apologizing-

"Works every time," Korro smirked, "now if only your Music Magic worked on yourself Lena-

"What's _that _suppose to mean!" she said shrilly, breaking the serene atmosphere.

"Don't start you two," Valda sighed. Korro and Lena immediately stopped bickering, afraid Valda would flip out in anger again. "Good, now we can start explaining the reason we're here. Where is your guildmaster?"

"Pleasure to meet you," Valda said, bowing to Makarov. "We've heard so much of Fairy Tail. We're quite sure we can trust you to help us."

"Um, yes," coughed Makarov. "I'd say that we could trust you as well, but, well, we haven't heard much on Stella Luminosa. All I know is that it's a small guild in Yucca City." He paused to think for a moment before continuing. "I meet the guildmaster once. Celestia. Very polite and kind. Such a wonderful lady. Not to mention powerful. You guys didn't participate in the Magic Games. I always found that strange."

"We were busy," mumbled the young boy named Yves.

"Well Master," Mira said, carrying a copy of_ Sorcerers Weekly_ from a few months back, "perhaps this will help."

Makarov glanced at the cover for a moment when his eyes lit up. "Of course! Valda Wolfe! Also known as The Hunter! One of the strongest mages in your guild."

"Well our guild's small. However, I would like to point out that I am _not _a ditzy poster-girl. No offense Mira-san. You may be a poster-girl, but you're not ditzy."

"None taken."

"Besides," Korro laughed "you don't have the looks or the personality to compete with Mira-san." Valda glared at him in response, causing him to shut up. Despite his serious attitude, he did seem to joke around a lot.

"Can we remain on topic please," said the girl named Vidya, who had just finished her juice.

"Ah yes," Valda said "so, it all started when we received a message via lacrima from our guildmaster's friend Edmund. Apparently, his small village was being attacked by a dark guild named Ombra Drakon, seeking to find an ancient tablet. The message cut-off, and when we arrived, there were no survivors."

"We're so sorry," Makarov said.

"Thank you. Anyway, our worst fears were confirmed when we discovered that they had indeed stolen the Forbidden Tablet of the Underworld. It was just a legend, but it appears to be true as those were the last words that Edmund-sama spoke. According to legend, if the tablet is translated, it will unleash a forbidden and dark celestial spirit-

"An evil celestial spirit," Lucy interrupted, "that's crazy."

"It's true," Valda snapped, clearly annoyed that Lucy would interrupt her. "So we, of course, tracked them down. We were so busy, we were unable to participate in the Games. When we finally figured out where they would be heading, they defeated us. We barely escaped with our lives. We can't beat them ourselves. We need your help."

"Yeah," Yves said excitedly, "your the number one guild!"

"Ombra Drakon only has six members, but their strong," Delaraz said.

"The rest of our guildmembers are still recovering, so the eight of us will help. Our guildmaster is busy taking care of them right now, we only got away thanks to her. She appeared at the last minute to save us, and cleared up the issues with the Magic Council," Korro said grimly.

"Our entire guild fought them. Except Yerik, he was away on a job. As was Orion. Yerik would have beaten those guys, but we still had to take jobs in between searching," Vidya added.

"We know where they are, but we need your help. So will you help us?" Orion asked, smiling as usual.

Not only did it seem necessary to help them beat this dark guild and recover the tablet for the sake of the world, but also Makarov found it would just be impossible to say "no" to Orion's sweet, childish grin.

"Fairy Tail will give you it's full support!" he declared.

"YES!"

"You guys cool with this?" Romano asked, addressing Natsu and the others.

"You bet," Natsu grinned. "I'm all fired up."

**Please leave a review and tell me how I did. I hope that there were no grammatical or spelling errors! The beginning may be a little slow, not to mention my characters will be introduced slowly as well, but I hope you'll stick through it for just the first couple of chapters before deciding if you'll continue reading or not. My updates will be very random, sometimes I'll update after three days and sometimes after three months. I'll try to update quickly though so you guys can read the first few chapters. Thank you!**

**Special thanks to WiseKarasu, who helped me fix the various plot holes in my story and refine tons of details. Special thanks to Raiyane, who gave me some small pointers which I still very useful. I recommend their stories Fox Tail: Another Fairy Tail Story and Silver Griffin: The Rise of a New Guild. Once again, thank you to everyone who read the first chapter, hope you stick with the story for a while, and I wish you luck if your writing your own story! **


	2. The Dragon's Shadow

**Yay! Second chapter! I'll try my best. I apologize for my severely inadequate writing skills. It gets better with every chapter, or so I hope you will think so. Forgot to include the disclaimer, but I'm pretty sure it's obvious. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. I only own the plot of this story and the original characters of Stella Luminosa. **

**Chapter 2: The Dragon's Shadow**

After quite a lot of bickering and fighting, and one or two injuries or threats, it was finally decided that Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza, Wendy and Juvia would go on the mission (along with Happy and Carla of course). The Stella Luminosa mages requested them specifically, probably to just end the fighting. The group boarded a train that would take them to Iris City where, according to Valda, Ombra Drakon was. The train ride would not be long, or so Natsu hoped.

"What's wrong with Natsu-san?" Yves asked, curious at the fact that Natsu was looking queasy.

"Motion sickness," Lena said. "I could play a song to help him relax-

"Sorry Lena, but your screechy voice isn't exactly soothing," Korro laughed.

"You meanie," she sobbed.

"Your magic is interesting Lena-san," Lucy said in an attempt to cheer her up.

"Oh, um thank you," Lena mumbled, wiping her eyes, "but it's not that great."

"Nonsense! The way you played that flute earlier, just so beautiful."

"You think?"

"By the way Erza-san," Romano said nervously, "if you don't mind, can I see some of your equips?"

"Um, sure I guess," said Erza. She got the request often enough from people, and she could tell the Stella Luminosa mages really admired Fairy Tail.

Erza proceeded to requip all types of armor and weapons. Romano was very impressed, like a small child at Honeydukes, and was able to name each and every one of her equips. Afterwords, Erza asked to see his various weapon equips, which he was happy to demonstrate.

"If you could quit fangirling Romano, we should probably explain to them the details of our mission," Korro said sternly.

Romano shot him a glare, but then dequipped some plain white sword with an ornate hilt. "Fine. So basically, Ombra Drakon has five members, plus their guildmaster. We tracked down their base to the forest here, but Yerik and Orion were both away on jobs and we couldn't afford to waste time by waiting for them. A foolish move as we would have beaten them if Yerik had been there. We were doing well against them, until their Master showed up. Sadistic guy. So we were totally creamed by that guy and would have been killed if Guildmaster Celestia hadn't arrived to save us."

"Yeah, we kind of went off in the middle of the night without telling her, so she was mad afterwords. Both sides withdrew. This had happened during the Grand Magic Games, so the Magic Council was to caught up with what happened there to care about our problem," Lena added.

"Yet, you guys _still _went off at night without Guild master's permission," Valda scolded. True her companions were rash, but sometimes they were just ridiculous and idiotic. Then again, she heard Fairy Tail was more so.

"We had to talk to Fairy Tail as soon as possible," Del replied meekly.

"You know," Wendy said, "you guys seem to know a lot about our guild, yet we know next to nothing of yours."

"Yeah, we want to know about your guild," Happy agreed.

"Um, okay," Del mumbled, a little startled that such a big-name guild would be concerned with a small guild like them. "There's twelve of us, plus our guild master. Aside from us, there's Alexa, Geoffrey, Penwyn, and Yerik."

"Only twelve? Why are you guys such a small guild?" Gray asked, voicing what was on most of their minds.

Valda's expression became dark and she looked out the window to avoid eye-contact. She bit her lip as she recalled the horrible events that had happened shortly after she joined the guild. It was something she hadn't even shared with Yerik or Geoffrey and only Celestia knew about it."I'd rather not talk about it."

"So from what we've heard, Juvia can only assume that Yerik-san is one of your strongest mages," said Juvia, trying to break the gloomy mood. She could see by Valda's expression that Gray had stepped on a mental mine.

"Yup," Valda nodded, going back to her usual tough persona. It was best not to dwell on that problem. Not now. "I'm only second-best."

"Speaking of which," Orion said innocently, "who's stronger, Erza-san or Mira-san?"

There was an awkward silence which was broken by Vidya.

"According to my research, the stronger one is-

"Oh look!" Valda said, quickly covering Vidya's mouth "We're here.

The group walked out of the train station and went off towards the forest on the outskirts of the city.

"By the way Lucy-san," Valda said as they hiked through the seemingly infinite forest. "I'm sorry if I upset you earlier with the idea of an evil celestial spirit. I know that as a Celestial Mage, you must have found it rather hard to believe."

"No need to apologize," Lucy said, waving her hand, "but it is still difficult to wrap my mind around the idea." Lucy loved all celestial spirits, even the ones she had fought. They had become her allies now, and they had been subjugated under Angel before, so she had no reason to begrudge them. She hoped she would never have to meet another Celestial Mage like Angel.

"Well Lucy-san," Korro said, "have you ever heard of the mythril keys?"

"Mythril keys?"

"Yup. Forbidden keys. The tablet we have to retrieve is the worst of the bunch."

"Oh," said Lucy, looking slightly worried.

"Psh. There's a reason it has _myth _in it's name because that's what it is," said Orion, losing his cheery air. Orion usually didn't get upset, but there were always exceptions.

"Did I miss something?" Gray asked, confused by the sudden bitterness in Orion's voice.

"Actually Gray-san you are missing something," Korro said, resisting the urge to face-palm.

"What?"

"Most of your clothes."

"Ack!"

"Gray-san! Put your clothes back on!" Lena screamed, turning beet red.

"Sorry! It's a bit of a habit," Gray said as he began to dress in the spare clothes that Juvia had brought him.

"So we've heard," Vidya sighed, looking away from Gray like the other girls.

"If you are now decent, we can move on. Oh, and someone carry Lena, I think she fainted," Valda said, walking off without bothering to look over her shoulder.

Everyone immediately looked at Korro, expecting him to carry the unconscious Lena next to him, who had fainted from embarrassment.

Korro glared at everyone. "Why is everyone expecting me to do it?"

Valda glared back at him. "Well now I'm telling you to do it."

Korro rolled his eyes, but didn't dare to argue with Valda, so he had to carry Lena, which was hard while trekking through rocky terrain and weaving through the forest. They didn't call it Labyrinth Forest for nothing.

* * *

The forest quickly thickened as the tall trees allowed only a dash of sunlight to poke through their branches and illuminate the forest floor. The trees were clumped together as their branches collided and their roots protruded from the ground and encircled one another. The mages gingerly stepped over the thick roots, and appeared at a clearing. Most of the light flooded in from the large and numerous clearing they went through. The clearing were like bald patches on the forest, and Lucy found it odd that there were so many. Obviously, someone had removed the trees that had once inhabited those clearings.

"Talk about a long way off," Natsu grumbled. They had been walking through the forest for the past thirty minutes and still no sign of the dark guild. "Are you guys sure they're here?"

"Positive," Vidya replied. "I just tracked their location with my magic. Not to mention they're tracking the sacred ruins. The tablet can only be activated if one stands at those hidden ruins."

"Yeah, the tablet was created in the temple which also served as a researched facility. The scientists there realized there mistake and hide the temple. They were also smart enough to hide the tablet in a distant location," Korro added.

"The tablet is said to have something to do with magic learned from the Book of Zeref," Lena said, and proceeded to shoot a glare at Korro. "You can put me down now."

"Yeah, then you'll start harping about how your shoes will get ruined and that there are bugs around here," Korro grumbled. Though Lena wouldn't admit it, Korro knew her better than anyone in the guild.

"I said put me down!" Lena said as she began hitting his back. He always mocked her for being girly, and being carried through the forest would only add to it. Korro quickly, and rudely, dropped her. Lena got up with tears in her eyes.

"You meanie!" Honestly, he could have put her down gently!

"Hey you two, if you could shut up that would be splendid," Romano said, stopping their usual fights before it started. "We have to remain focused."

"What if they've already harnessed the power of the tablet?" Wendy asked.

"Then the entire town would be decimated," Yves stated. "We just need to worry about how powerful they are without the tablet."

"No need to worry you guys, we have an advantage. We know all of their members and their powers, and they don't know that Fairy Tail's here to help us this time," Romano said.

"Oh yeah," Erza said, remembering the problem at hand, "what is their magic."

"Sorry we forgot to mention that." Vidya mumbled, scratching her head. "There's Arrik who uses-

Vidya was cut off as suddenly, as her friends shimmered like ripples in a lake before turning transparent and then vanishing completely.

"W-w-what happened!" Wendy exclaimed, looking around at Yves, Vidya and Carla, the only ones remaining.

"-Illusion Magic," Vidya finished.

"Illusion Magic! Then how do we know what's real!?" Wendy asked, trying hard not to panic. True the Stella Luminosa mages were overcome with joy at meeting Fairy Tail, but it didn't excuse them from forgetting to tell them vital information!

"My Assess Magic can calculate our position along with that of our guildmembers, and of our opponents. Not to mention I can analyze all sorts of things to confirm that they are real. It's a pretty self-explanatory magic." Vidya said. As she pulled up a light blue screen, similar to Archive magic.

"That's so neat Vidya-san," Wendy said.

"Thank you," Vidya said, smiling. She could tell that she would get along with Wendy.

* * *

"You really should have mentioned this earlier," Gray muttered angrily after Korro pointed out that one of the mages could create illusions. The forest was stuffy, even with the trees providing shade, so Gray had already lost track of his jacket and shirt.

"Sorry Gray-san."

"Man, I can't believe Arrik's plan worked," said a woman casually leaning against a rock. She had long black hair that was straight and reached her tailbone, and she wore all black except for a gold blouse. She had a round face with cheekbones that made her appear very young, almost Korro's age. They could see her guild-mark on her hand; a black dragon head coming out of a crescent moon.

"Um," Korro said, wracking his brains together. He then recalled Romano and Delaraz getting totally clobbered by this woman. "I think that's Pamela."

"And what kind of magic does she use?"

A huge stone column rose out and hit Korro in the gut, knocking the wind out of him and answering Gray's question.

"Stone Magic," Korro gasped.

* * *

"Lets see," Valda muttered as she and Erza walked through the forest "There was Pamela who used Stone Magic, Arrik who used Illusion Magic-

"Don't forget me!" exclaimed a disembodied voice. "Demenza. Psychic Mage!" A woman tottered out from behind the trees and Erza couldn't help but flinch. She had pale skin and almost as pale blonde hair. Her red eyes stood out against her translucent skin and she wore a long black dress and for some reason, heels.

"Oh damn," Valda muttered, "I faced-off against this insane woman last time. She was able to redirect my magic, so this will be a huge problem." It hadn't helped that her magic was useless and Yves' magic had been redirected easily.

* * *

"Juvia-san are you okay?" Lena asked, currently concerned about Juvia's sanity.

"Juvia is not okay!" Juvia exclaimed tearfully. "Juvia has been separated from Gray-sama! What if he's with my love rival!" She collapsed into a fit of sobs.

"Juvia-san calm down, we must not attract the attention of any enemies around us!" Lena cautioned. She was curious to know what Juvia meant by "love rival" but felt it would be too nosy of her to ask.

"Calm down you two. Man are you guys loud, luckily I was able to find you guys _because _your loud."

The duo turned around to see Gray standing there, cheering up Juvia instantly.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia jumped up to embrace him, only to receive a face full of noxious purple gas. She collapsed and "Gray" turned his attention to Lena. He shimmered like a mirage and turned back into a young man with dark purple hair and a thick winter coat, despite being in a humid forest.

"That went better then expected," said the young man, glancing down at the unconscious Juvia.

"Oh man," Lena said. "It's Arrik, the Illusion Mage." He had fought Geoffrey and Alexa the last time, but Lena did not know what he was capable of as it appeared to her as though Geoffrey and Alexa were just thrashing on the ground, screaming and calling for help. That terrified her even more.

* * *

"I don't care which one we face," Natsu said, stomping off in search of an opponent.

"Natsu-san," Romano called, "do let me finish telling you about the-

"Doesn't matter!" Natsu yelled from a few meters away. "I found one!"

Sure enough, when Dela, Happy and Romano caught up to Natsu, he was face-to-face with a man with dirty blonde hair, a sleeveless shirt, and camo pants and boots. His hair was spiked up and was trimmed neatly, aside from his sideburns. He also wore sunglasses despite the poor lighting and was really buff, probably twice Dela's size.

"So your from Fairy Tail?" the man asked nonchalantly., pushing up his sunglasses to his forehead so as to see them better.

"How do you know?"

"Your guild mark."

"Oh."

"Natsu-san that guy's Urulu," Romano said nervously "he's a-

Before Romano could even finish, Natsu used Roar of the Fire Dragon. The man made no effort to dodge the attack, rather he opened his mouth and slurped up the flames just like Natsu would.

"He ate it!" Happy exclaimed. "Is he a-

"Dragon Slayer? Nope. He uses Copy Magic. Beat up Penwyn pretty badly," Romano said grimly. He didn't add that he also knocked Vidya unconscious, so they were unaware of any weakness he may have. The same went for the other Ombra Drakon mages.

"You could have told me this _before _I attacked him!"

"I tried, but you wouldn't listen!"

"This will be a long battle," Delaraz sighed.

* * *

"Well Lucy-san, it could be worse," Orion said.

"How so? We're lost in the woods, separated from our friends and trying to find members of an evil organization willing to kill us. HOW CAN IT BE WORSE!"

"Well, you could be stuck with an idiot."

"I ALREADY AM!"

"Well," Orion said, grinning sheepishly and scratching his head, "you could be alone."

"Good point," Lucy said thoughtfully, already sorry for yelling at Orion.

"Exactly! The only thing that can make things worse is-

"Me," said a mad stepping out from the trees and shrubbery. He had light brown hair that was curly and messy, cocoa eyes that were, oddly, filled with warmth, but his sadistic smile clashed with his warm eyes. He wore a black jacket that had the Ombra Drakon mark of the back, a dark blue shirt, plain black pants and boots, and black fingerless gloves.

"Yes him," Orion said. It took him a minute to realize what was going on. "Oh man, we're going to have our hands full with Valter."

"Why, what kind of magic does he use?" Lucy asked.

"From what I heard he's a-

"No please," Valter said, raising his hand to silence Orion, "allow me to show you."

* * *

"So where is everyone Vidya?"

"Pretty far, not to mention they're all facing someone from Ombra Drakon. This is bad," Vidya muttered, fiddling with her hair nervously.

"Well, who's the closest to us?" Yves asked.

"That would be Juvia and Lena."

"Then let's go!"

* * *

"Equip! Ocarina!" Lena raised the ocarina to her mouth to play a Dispel Song to rid the area of Arrik's illusions, but before she could play the first note, he swamped her with a horrid smelling yellow gas.

"Ah!" she exclaimed covering her mouth as the putrid gas stung her throat. "W-what i-is this?"

"Let's hear you sing or play _now_," Arrik sneered.

Lena coughed rather than responding as she intended to. She tried speaking again, but it burned her throat and her voice came out as a screechy gasp that sounded like a dying whale. Still, she wasn't going to let _that _get in her way. She requiped a harp, knowing that a sore throat wouldn't stop her from playing _that_. Arrik, however, was prepared for this. She raised her hand to pluck the first string when suddenly, the strings had turned into tons of snakes, that slithered up her arms and coiled around her.

She knew it had to fake, but it felt so _real_. The snakes were multiplying, covering her entire body. She squirmed in an attempt to break free, but their grip was like iron. This all felt so real. She tried to scream, only she remembered she couldn't. She lay there helplessly as the snakes increased, enveloping her like a cocoon. They began biting her and it felt as though a thousand needles were stabbing into her flesh and she continued to scream, but it only came out as a screechy rasp. She began sobbing as her body grew numb and her vision became cloudy.

_Oh well, _she thought, _at least it's not spiders_.

"That was a bit to easy," Arrik muttered, looking down at Juvia and Lena. "To think, they hired Fairy Tail to help them, yet I beat that girl so easily. Not to mention the blonde fainted from fright before I got to toy with her. How boring."

**Juvia and Lena were beaten rather quickly, but no need to worry. Tons of battles yet to come. Please comment! I don't mind honest feedback, as long as it's not rude. Thank you to everyone that's given me some feedback, favorited this, or followed it. Don't bother following me though because I'll later write stories for other fandoms, and I don't want anyone to be bothered by floods of emails about new stories they may not like. By the way, sorry about the constant change between scenes. I try to do it to keep up suspense. **

**And yes, I made a Harry Potter reference. I'm going to make a lot of references, so just in case, let me add this disclaimer.**

**Disclaimer: I own none of the books, movies, television shows, or anything I write about or make a reference to. I own nothing! I'm still a teenager, so I live with my parents. If anything, they own me. Oh, but the mythril keys were my idea, with some help from WiseKarasu of course! **

**Thanks again to my readers! **


	3. Fight Fire With Fire

**Please comment. Tell me how I'm doing so far. Are the chapters long enough? Now begins the first actual battle with Stella Luminosa and Fairy Tail against Ombra Drakon. Please read and I hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter 3: Fight Fire With Fire**

"Now! Watch as I defeat you with your own magic!" Urulu exclaimed triumphantly as he attacked Natsu with Roar of the Fire Dragon.

"Natsu-san get out of the way!" Dela yelled as Natsu stood there with no signs of movement while the fire sped towards him. Natsu gobbled up Urulu's attack, smacking his lips happily from that delicious meal and causing Del to sweat-drop. "Oh yeah, you can eat fire. I forgot about that Natsu-san."

"Exactly, so your magic is useless against me!" Natsu yelled, laughing as Urulu realized this.

"So is yours!" The two mages stared at each other awkwardly as it dawned on them that this battle would only result in a stalemate. A few minutes of awkward silence past before Natsu spoke up.

"Doesn't matter. I'll punch your face in. You can only attack me with fire, which I'll just eat!"

"Maybe so, but I doubt your friends can eat fire! Roar of the Fire Dragon!"

"Nope! But I can do this!" Romano yelled equipping the water broadswords he had used against Natsu. Urulu's fire must have been weaker because the water sliced through it easily rather then evaporating. Romano's confident grin quickly melted when Urulu ate the water attack, causing similar swords to materialize in his hands.

"Not bad," Urulu muttered, examining the water blades that had appeared in his hands. "And I thought you'd be a problem Romano."

Romano gritted his teeth. "Natsu-san sit this one out. Your attacks will be useless anyway. You two were at a stalemate. I, however, can requip different weapons."

"That's stupid!" Natsu yelled. "You'll provide him with different powers-

"I know what I'm doing!" Romano had to admit he was also eager to show his full strength to Natsu. It wasn't every day one had the chance to impress his or her idol. Urulu didn't seem intent on letting them continue their argument, because he plunged the blades into the ground, causing a huge geyser to shoot up from beneath Romano, launching him upwards.

"Gotcha! Roar of the Fire Dragon!"

Romano was falling through mid-air, leaving him wide open for an attack. The flames enveloped him and it seemed like he was toast, until he landed and exhibited only a few scratches and no burns.

"But how!?"

"Fire Resistance," Delaraz said happily as she winked at Romano. "Don't worry. I got your back."

"That's the Defense Mage. Hmph. I should have known. She and the Weapon Mage never leave each others side," Urulu muttered, his eyes darting back and forth to his three opponents. He was certainly at a disadvantage with one against three, but one was a support mage. Besides, he had triumphed over more foes before. This would be like a walk in the park.

"That's because we make a perfect team."

"Maybe so, but she's a support mage. Her power-ups don't work on herself. Let's see how you do against my Fire Dragon's Roar!"

"Delaraz!" Happy yelled.

When the smoke cleared up, they saw that Delaraz was holding up a flame patterned shield that had protected her from Urulu's attack.

"I have my own ways of defending myself," she smiled. Though she mostly gave power-ups or could even transform her partners to better defend themselves, she could also requip shields or armor onto people. Only her requips worked on herself though.

"Now why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Romano said, brandishing a spear that was as tall as Romano and the spearhead as big as both his hands length. It was a rather plain steel and gold, but it crackled with electricity.

"Psh. Your one to talk midget."

"M-m-midget!? I may look short compared to you you human skyscraper! Now get over here so I can fry you with my spear!"

"I'd like to see you try. I'll just eat your attack again. 'course I'll probably have to stoop down so I can reach it."

"I'M SEVENTEEN! I'M A DECENT HEIGHT FOR MY AGE YOU JERK!"

"Well, aren't you a quick tempered one? Was it because I attacked your girlfriend?"

Romano turned as red as a tomato and blinked several times in shock. "Dela's _not _my girlfriend. Now quit distracting me and fight me!"

Urulu smirked, and attacked Romano with a Water Slash Attack. Romano chucked his spear through the attack, which it cut through like butter. Great, so now Urulu will eat the spear and be able to use an electric spear, thought Natsu, cursing Romano's hasty nature. However, Urulu dodged the spear instead, and it lodged itself in a tree.

"Pfft. A poor choice in weapons. It's a shame you lived, your brother died for no reason."

Romano couldn't help but be shocked by this comment. No one in the guild even knew about his brother. "How do you-

"Well unlike your guild, _ours _does extensive research on any of our previous foes. Of course, most don't live. If they do, we have our ways of finding out. Your brother-

"SHUT UP!" Romano yelled requipping a dark magic sword. The hilt was obsidian and the blade was covered with smoke, rather, the blade _was _smoke. Or at least, it looked like smoke. "Don't you _dare_ talk about my brother."

"Oi Romano," Natsu yelled. "He's trying to get you angry. Calm down."

"I'M COMPLETELY CALM!"

"O-kay," Happy said sweat-dropping.

"Romano! Natsu-san's right. You need to calm down!" Delaraz said. She had seen Romano get frustrated before, but he never got this angry. What bothered her more was Urulu's mention of Romano's brother. She had never known he had a brother, and felt rather hurt that he hadn't told her. They were, after all, best friends.

"Don't worry. My Obsidian Blade is my second-strongest weapon. I'll-

"Look out!"

Romano turned around to see the funnel of water that Urulu sent at him. Luckily, a wave-patterned shield appeared in front of him, courtesy of Dela. Even so, the force had pushed him back a few feet, but Romano managed to stay on his feet.

"Thanks Del."

"Hmph, so it's true. You guys make a good team, but alone your both weak. The girl can't fight and you need someone to take care of you. Pathetic."

"Don't let it get to you. Don't get distracted like last time," Natsu warned.

"Enough you guys," Romano said, turning away from his friends to face Urulu. "I said I could handle this, so please stay out of it Del."

"Romano, I can take care of myself-

"It's not that. It's true Del. I always need you watching my back. I'm too dependent on you. You can take care of yourself, but I can't. I never could. I'll beat this guy and show him that I don't need help to beat my enemies."

Urulu sneered. "You really are a fool."

Romano raised his sword up towards the sky. "Shadow Rain!" The smoke unfurled as it rushed upwards, leaving Romano holding just a sword hilt. The smoke stopped and began to spread, covering the sky with what seemed to be storm clouds. Black meteor-like orbs began to rain down from the heavens, straight towards Urulu.

"Whoa," Natsu said awestruck.

Urulu grinned and opened his mouth and swallowed one of the orbs, of course, many more followed that one. The dark orbs hit Urulu as he made no effort to either dodge them or eat them. Romano couldn't help smirking once the last volley was launched and the sky cleared up. The "smoke" returned to Romano's sword, curled up contently like a viper. The dust cleared up, to reveal a battered, but conscious Urulu.

"No way!"

"Strong," Urulu groaned as a similar blade appeared in his hand. "I must thank you. I'd like to see what your strongest weapon is."

"Wait a second," Natsu said as his eyes lit up with an idea. "Romano! I figured out that-

"No, Natsu-san!" Romano said, clenching his fist around the black hilt. "I'm doing this on my own! I don't need help!"

"Everyone needs help and there's no need to be ashamed of it! There are some things you just can't do on your own, and that's why you have friends to help you!"

"I'll ask for help when I need it. But I can do this by myself!" he responded. He couldn't let Natsu think he was weak. He had to prove that he could fight alone if need be.

"Romano!"

"Idiot!"

Romano spun around to see that blast of dark energy Urulu sent straight at him. Romano took the brunt of the attack, clenching his teeth to keep from screaming. He refused to give Urulu that pleasure of hearing him scream. Finally, he stopped. Romano vision grew hazy and the entire world seemed to spin. He heard his friends' voices before completely blacking out...

"_Roma-chan don't you ever take a break!?"_

_Romano turned around to see his twin brother running towards him. It was hard for anyone to tell the difference between the two siblings, not even their parents could. Romano sighed and dequipped his plain sword. It was a shame seeing how long it took him to requip it. _

"_Hey Arturo! I thought I told you not to call me 'Roma-chan.'" Romano said gruffly._

"_Well I was born first. Perhaps I should call use '-kun' instead," Arturo joked._

"_Maybe if it's your death wish." Romano growled. He raised an eyebrow. "You've been studying again I suppose." The two brothers dreamed of becoming mages, and while Romano trained daily to perfect his magic, Arturo preferred to study magic techniques and discipline before applying the principles. So Romano was the only true mage, albeit, an amateur one._

"_Yes. You've been training again I suppose," Arturo responded._

"_You saw me training earlier," Romano said, crossing his arms._

"_Your point?"_

"_I know using magic's hard, but just try already. Studying will only get you so far."_

"_When I start using magic I'll surpass you. All because I studied." _

"_I doubt it," Romano yawned as he flung himself onto the grass. "A break sounds nice though."_

_Arturo laughed and extended his hand to his brother. "Let's get some ice cream. Get up."_

"Get up." Romano opened his eyes and saw Natsu standing over him with a deep scowl on his face. Romano felt uncomfortable beneath his gaze, knowing Natsu was angry at him for losing the fight.

"I'm sick of you letting your pride get in the way of letting us help you," Natsu yelled. Great, thought Romano, the yelling has already started.

"Natsu-san," Romano croaked. "I'm sorry. I looked weak in front of you. I've always admired you. Almost as much as I admired Erza-san."

"Shut up. What's with this 'I looked weak' nonsense. You are one strong mage. You just let your anger and pride get in the way. There's nothing wrong with getting help from your friends. What are friends for anyway? They're the reason you fight. The only weakness there is is not having a reason for fighting."

"Natsu. Thank you," Romano mumbled.

"Great. You've come to your senses. Now let's help Dela because I'm not sure how much longer she can hold out," said Natsu glancing over to see how Dela was doing. Romano quickly sat up when he heard Del was in trouble, but he winced as pain shot up his side and he fell back down.

Delaraz had managed to hold off Urulu that entire time. She was flying around with Happy taunting Urulu and keeping his attention away from Natsu and Romano. Of course, Happy's magic didn't last long, so Dela was now defending rather then dodging.

"What I meant to tell you earlier was that I figured out Urulu's weakness," Natsu said as he helped Romano to his feet. "Note, he dodged the spear, instead of eating it to copy it. And you've just been using elemental weapons."

"So, in other words-

"Exactly. He can't eat physical attacks. Just magical ones. Let's see him try and eat a plain sword!"

"Don't worry Natsu, I can still fight," Romano said, managing a confident grin.

"I got this," Natsu smiled. "Back me up though."

"Right," Romano said as he requipped some regular throwing knives.

"Fist of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu punched Urulu in back of the head, causing him to turn around angrily, completely ignoring Delaraz and Happy.

"Why you-

"Now!" On cue, Romano threw a handful of knives at Urulu, half of which he dodged, but the other half hit him.

"Damn it!" Urulu said, collapsing to his knees, holding his injured arm. "You idiots can't possibly beat me!"

"Watch me." Natsu growled as he walked towards Urulu. "Fire Dragon's Claw!"

Urulu managed to roll out of the way and was about to bring up his sword to Natsu's chest, but Dela came to the rescue.

"Requip! Armor Breastplate!" Sure enough, the breastplate from armor appeared on Natsu, and Urulu's blade snapped on contact with the diamond-like metal.

"Fire Dragon's Claw!"

* * *

"Ice Make! Lances!" Gray yelled as several lances sped towards Pamela.

"Stone Dome," she said, flicking her finger as a dome made of stone surrounded her, causing Gray's ice attack to shatter on impact.

"Equip! Mask of Strength!" Korro announced as a red and white mask appeared on his face. He punched the stone dome, causing it to collapsed like a house made of wooden blocks. Pamela walked out of the ruins and dusted herself off, virtually unscathed.

"Mask Magic. Very versatile. Your friend must be Gray Fullbuster of Fairy Tail. Did you really think that Fairy Tail would be able to help you?"

"Um. Yes."

"That's where your wrong. Let's go! Stone Pillars!" Pamela said, causing several pillars of stone to shoot out of the ground like daisies.

"Woah!" Gray barely managed to dodge one and Korro was having a tough time too. They kept jumping back, side-stepping, flipping backwards, weaving through the forest of stone and just trying not to get killed.

"Fairy Tail and Stella Luminosa have a lot to learn if they think they can defeat Ombra Drakon's Five Generals," Pamela laughed as she continued the brutal assault. "Honestly, how do you hope to beat the rest of our guild if you can't even beat us?"

"Rest of your guild!?" Korro cried astonished.

"That's right. There's more than just the five of us. Do you idiots really charge into battle without knowing anything about your opponent?" she taunted.

"Yes."

"Well it's a foolish move that will cost you idiots your life! Stone Cutter!" Pamela swung her arms to form an X, and suddenly the pillars of stone she had created were cut into several pieces, which began sliding down.

"Shit!" Gray said as he tried to get out of the forest of stone. He and Korro were both trapped, and now they would be crushed by the falling rocks.

"Damn it Gray-san!" Korro muttered as he tackled him, pushing him out of the way of a falling pillar. Unfortunately, the chunk of rock fell on Korro instead.

"Korro!" Gray yelled in shock, certain that Korro had been killed by the rock in an attempt to save him. He scanned the battle field as the dust cleared up, but only a pile of rocks remained where Korro had been.

"What's wrong Gray-san?" Korro asked, poking his head out from the pile, with only a few scratches.

"What!? How did you!? I mean I thought-

"You thought I was dead? Do you not see the mask still on my face?"

"Oh," Gray said, realizing that not only was Korro still wearing his Mask of Strength, but he was also holding up the rock Gray had thought had killed him.

"Talk about doubting me," Korro muttered, casually throwing the rock behind him. "How else would I be able to shove you that far without super strength?"

"Oh yeah, but I think you bruised me when you did that," Gray said, rubbing his ribs.

"Sorry about that Gray-san."

"If you two would start paying attention," Pamela said impatiently, "we can get back to me killing you."

**Okay, so thank you for reading this far. So sorry the chapters are so short. This one especially. I'll try to make them longer. I hope your enjoying the story so far! Thanks again.**


	4. The Psychotic Psychic

**Hurray! Fourth chapter! I'm sure you can guess who's battle this is by the title. Do you guys think I'm writing out the Fairy Tail cast well? I'm worried about that.**

**Chapter 4: The Psychotic Psychic **

"So Valda Wolfe and Erza Scarlet, I have the _honor _of fighting you," Demenza purred.

"Lets finish this quickly because her face is creeping me out," said Valda. She use to think that porcelain skin was so pretty, but after seeing Demenza it seemed unnatural. Her grin warped her features and her translucent skin made her bones more prominent, giving her an almost skeletal appearance.

"Agreed," Erza nodded. "Requip! Black Wing Armor!"

Erza charged at Demenza, but Demenza simply held up her hand, causing Erza to stop right in her tracks. Erza found herself unable to move and a purple aura radiated around her.

"I'd like to see you try and get near me," Demenza smirked. She abruptly cut her hand to the side, causing Erza to go flying into a tree at top speed.

Demenza turned her attention to Valda, grinning evilly with her unnatural smile. "Welcome Hunter! So glad you came so I could beat you again!"

"I'm not going to lose," Valda said quietly as her hand glowed with a white aura that quickly changed to purple. Her Slayer Magic adapted to defeat, or slay, her opponent. It had been called Slayer Magic as most mages who use it slay monsters rather than battle dark mages.

"Psh. Your Slayer Magic would be devastating if it could only hit me. Of course, I always redirect it. Not that it will hurt you. Can't change fast enough. Oh well! All magic has its flaws!"

"Yup. Your psychic abilities are pretty lame."

"How so?" Demenza asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Well, you have to concentrate in order to use your powers to their fullest, so even a small distraction can be your downfall."

"I'm not distracted so easily, try and move and I'll know."

"Bet you didn't know that," Valda said, pointing behind Demenza.

Erza's Photon Slicer hit Demenza right on her back. She gasped in pain, turning around to attack Erza with Psychic Blast. Purple energy filled her palm as she slammed her hand into Erza's gut, to little effect. Erza's Morning Star Armor protected her from most of the attack, to Demenza's frustration.

Erza grinned. "Your guard's down again."

"What do you-

"Slayer Slash!"

"Ugh!" Demenza grunted as the purple energy cut across her back.

_The Hunter certainly lives up to her reputation, _thought Demenza_, and so does Titania. I won't underestimate them again._

"Alright," Demenza grumbled placing herself so as to see them both. "I'm through playing around."

"Same here," Erza said, gripping her lance tightly in her hand. Angering Demenza would succeed in breaking her concentration, even so, these people were not to be trifled with.

* * *

Meanwhile, in small guild in Yucca Town, three people sat having an argument. One was a tall woman with black-blue hair and an elegant, sleeveless white dress with blue trimmings. She wore blue gloves that complemented her outfit. Next to her was a girl with black hair done up in a bun as it served as a pin cushion for her knitting needles. She wore a long knitted blue dress and was currently in the process of knitting a new outfit.

Across from them, arguing with the guildmaster, was a boy with golden hair. He was dressed plainly, in a white shirt and black pants, but that did not hide the fact that he was very handsome. Not that he acknowledged that. He ignored his appearance, yet every day he was followed by village girls swooning over him. He was always unnerved by them, but his fellow guildmembers found it hilarious.

"Master, we can most certainly fight. Have faith in us," said the boy.

"Penwyn, I have faith in all of you. That is why I'm sure Valda and the others are doing just fine. We must be patient," responded the guildmaster.

"Besides," added the girl looking up from her knitting. "Fairy Tail's with them. We have nothing to worry about."

Penwyn opened his mouth to argue, but one glance from his guildmaster silenced him. Grumbling, he sat down in a chair and picked up a large book which he began to read.

"Good afternoon Penwyn, Alexa and Guildmaster Celestia!" exclaimed a boy with beige hair. He was dressed rather plainly in a brown jacket over a green shirt along with brown pants, which were currently covered in dirt from being outside. His arms were filled with bright flowers of different types.

"Geoffrey! You should be resting! Not playing outside!" admonished the woman.

The boy frowned as he set the flowers in vases. "Sorry Guildmaster. Just thought a bit of fresh air wouldn't hurt. Besides, I brought back plenty of flowers! Magnolias! Your favorite!"

Celestia smiled. It was hard to stay angry at Geoffrey. He and Orion were just too sweet. Of course, Orion was usually the one in hot water. Then again, Geoffrey hung out with Valda and Yerik, the two S-class mages, so of course he was responsible. She was certain Geoffrey would become S-class one day too.

"By the way," Geoffrey said, moving the flowers around in a tasteful arrangement, "is Yerik back yet?"

"Yes. Just arrived actually," said a voice.

Everyone turned around to see a boy leaning against the doorway with a bag slung over his shoulder. He had shoulder-length green hair and wore plain white and blue clothes, over which he had a grey jacket. He had a bandage wrapped over one arm and a few scratches on his face. He had forest green eyes, which were rather tired-looking at the moment from his long journey. With the few jobs the guild had been taking during the crisis, they really needed money, so he had taken an S-class job.

"Ah, Yerik, how nice to see you," Celestia said calmly.

"Same here. Sorry the mission took so long. I'm glad to see you guys are okay-

"Your late," Alexa cut-in. She was obviously still upset that he had been absent during their assault on Ombra Drakon. They had filled him in about the incident via lacrima phone about a week ago, yet he had barely returned after hearing the terrible news, refusing to cut his job short.

"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives exactly when he means to," Yerik replied, plopping down into an armchair.

"Nice," Penwyn grinned, looking up from his book.

"By the way where's everyone else. I need to ask Orion to heal my arm. Plus, Yves is usually here to greet me," Yerik said, looking around as though expecting his guildmates to be hiding.

"Erm," Geoffrey said looking over at his friends for help. They exchanged nervous glances. They couldn't just tell Yerik that his little brother went off on a super dangerous mission to fight a dark guild. Yerik was super overprotective when it came to his little brother, and wouldn't even let Yves take a job until he approved of it. Often times, if he still thought the job to hard, he would follow him. He had only recently stopped when Celestia told him to have faith in his brother.

"Well Yerik, how should we know? Are we your brother's keepers?" Penwyn asked, avoiding the question.

"If I remember correctly," Yerik said darkly, "Guildmaster said we are all a family and we must keep track of everyone in these times. Now just answer my question."

"Well Yerik, you may recall that because Yves is part of this guild, he takes missions," Alexa said, twiddling her fingers. She put down her normal knitting needles and picked up her magical ones, in case Yerik had to be restrained.

"Yes, but due to crisis we've been taking less jobs for now. I doubt he went on a job before I returned from mine."

"He did. Well, not really a job. A mission sort of. In a loose sense of the term," Alexa mumbled, not daring to look Yerik in the eye.

"That's it. You guys are hiding something. Perhaps I'll just ask Dela. Or maybe even Geoffrey," he said turning towards his friend. Whenever one of the guildmembers wanted to know something, they would always interrogate Delaraz or Geoffrey. Del was too nice to lie and Geoffrey was a terrible liar. Geoffrey fidgeted beneath Yerik's gaze.

"Nice weather we're having," Geoffrey said loudly in a pathetic attempt to change the topic. Penwyn couldn't help but face-palm.

"Tell me where Yves is," Yerik ordered. Celestia was about to respond when Geoffrey opened his mouth.

"He went with some of the others to fight Ombra Drakon," Geoffrey announced, not able to take it any longer.

"Geoffrey!"

"Wait, WHAT!"

"I mean, how 'bout that hockey game?" Geoffrey said quickly.

* * *

"Never-mess-around-with-me!" Demenza screamed. With each word she sent another attack at Erza and Valda. While most Psychic Mages are renown for their patience which grants them mastery of such magic, Demenza used it for brute strength.

"Duck!" Erza yelled as Demenza sent another Psychic Wave at them.

"I don't think so!" Demenza said gleefully as her hands glowed purple. Erza and Valda glowed with the psychic energy as Demenza forced them to get up and take the hit. "I can control you like puppets!"

"Damn! How are we suppose to beat her?" Erza asked, unable to move as Demenza charged up for a huge attack. The purple energy gathered in her hands and condensed into a small ball, about the size of a grapefruit.

"I don't know. Man how I wish Vidya was here. She could find out her weakness."

"What weakness!?"

"Every magic has a weakness. You just need to find it."

"Psychic Cutter!" The ball split into thousands of purple disks, which flooded towards them. Erza's armor kept her from getting turned into mincemeat, but Valda had no such advantage.

"Valda!"

* * *

"Monkey feathers! Juvia and Lena have just been defeated," Vidya said turning towards her friends. "Do you know what this means?"

Yves turned pale. "These people have shown themselves capable of murder."

"Oh no! Do you mean-

"Lucky day I suppose. Juvia and Lena are alive. Just knocked out," Vidya said.

"That's a relief," Wendy sighed.

"Shouldn't we focus on the fact that whoever beat them may come after us next?" Carla asked.

"Is it whoever or whomever?"

"There's a grammar trick for this but now's not the time. Let me get up a map," Vidya mumbled. With a wave of her hand, a blue map detailing the entire forest and the location of all living people appeared.

"Neat," exclaimed Wendy looking at the map. "It's like Archive Magic."

"Close. All magic is tied together as it all came from the One Magic. My Assess Magic is similar to Archive Magic, as are several other types of magic." Vidya stated. "Anyway, we can check up on the battles and see how everyone's doing."

"Can we communicate to them?" Wendy asked.

"No. Sorry Wendy-san. Archive Magic is like a database; it can store info and send it out to others. Assess Magic is like a scanner; it can find information and calculate all sorts of things. Archive Magic also has records of spells that the mage can use. Assess Magic has no offensive capabilities."

"That's okay Vidya-san. My magic is mainly support. I can fight, but I'm not very strong," Wendy said in an attempt to cheer up Vidya.

"Nonsense Wendy-san! I saw how amazing you were during the Magic Games!" Yves said.

"Thank you, but please drop the '-san' you guys."

"Sure, but only if you do too!" Yves teased.

Vidya couldn't help but be a little angry. Yves never complimented _her _like that. No, she thought, I'm being paranoid. Nothing to worry about. But the way he had teased her...

"We should get going you guys," Carla said flying up to look over the trees.

"Right."

* * *

"I'm alright," Valda said, struggling to get up. She did her best not to cry out in pain. The sound of another's pain was like music to Demenza, and she loved encores.

"For _now_," Demenza cackled. "The real fun is just about to start! Psychic Bubble!" A purple orb appeared at her feet and began to expand and surround her. It lifted her up and encased her in a field of pure psychic energy.

"What is that suppose to do?" Erza asked, already anticipating the answer.

"Increases my psychic abilities while at the same time protecting me from most attacks. Now for the real show to start." Demenza waved her hand and they were once again covered in the purple aura.

"Damn it!" Erza groaned as she turned towards Valda and raised her Photon Slicer. She tried fight it, but Demenza just to powerful. "Valda can you move?"

"No," Valda said, glued to the same place with her arms pinned to her side.

"It would be much more fun if I could make the Hunter _actually _fight you Titania, but no matter. I'll just have to settle with making you skewer your friend," Demenza laughed. She turned towards Valda and shot her a devious smirk. "Any last words Hunter? Care to beg for mercy? Or how about you Titania? Once you kill your friend, you'll be next. I wonder how I should kill you."

"Damn you!" Valda cursed. "Fight us you coward!"

Demenza looked unfazed. "Please. Calling me names will not work. Oh! I know! Maybe I'll use my psychic powers to slowly rip your limbs off Titania. I will enjoy hearing you scream and see your blood drain from your body as you beg for a quick death."

"You won't get away with this," Erza growled, hoping to stall for time until she or Valda could figure out how to break free. Valda could use her magic, but she wouldn't be able to move her arm to aim at Demenza, and even if she could manipulate her magic, Demenza would just stop it with her own magic.

_Wait of course! _thought Erza.

* * *

"One down, five to go!" Natsu yelled triumphantly.

"We owe it all to you Natsu," Romano said weakly.

"Couldn't have done it without you Romano! Dela and Happy were awesome too!" Natsu grinned.

"T-thank you," Romano mumbled embarrassed.

"No problem! And don't underrate yourself man," Natsu said, patting Romano on the back. Romano smiled, then promptly passed out.

"Romano!"

"Oops."

* * *

"Damn she's fast! Requip! Mask of Speed!" A blue stripped mask replaced Korro's previous mask, allowing him to dodge Pamela's attacks with ease, but Gray was not so lucky. He had managed to dodge a majority of them, but his arms were still speckled blue with bruises.

"Ice Make! Battle Axe!" Gray threw his axe like a tomahawk, but Pamela's Stone Shot shattered it as though it was made of glass.

"Come on, you'll have to do better than that!" Pamela laughed. "We are well matched after all, so don't make this too easy for me! I'll bet the others are having _way _more fun than I am. Entertain me!"

"We are well matched, but we need a plan," Korro muttered as he and Gray stood back to back.

"If we could combine our attacks, we could overpower her. What sort of masks do you have? Perhaps we could do a Unison Raid," Gray whispered.

"Enough of your blathering," Pamela interrupted. "Rockslide!" Several boulders materialized in the air as they bombarded the two mages.

* * *

"Omf!" Valda said as Erza slammed into her.

_Quick thinking Erza-san, _thought Valda.

"Damn you!" Demenza screamed pulling at her hair like a child having a tantrum. She started screaming in fury and stomping on the ground, and then turned her attention back to the two mages.

"Well I figured you could only control our movement and I was right," Erza said, rising to her feet. "So there was nothing stopping me from just dequipping my weapon."

"You'll pay! You will pay!" Demenza screeched. "I'll kill you myself. Starting with you Titania!"

"I'd worry about Valda instead," Erza said.

Demenza's hatred melted away as she caught on to what Erza was talking about, but a bit too late. Valda's Slayer Beam sliced through Demenza's Psychic Bubble like jelly. Demenza fell but managed to land on her feet.

"Now then," Erza said, requipping her Heaven's Wheel Armor. "Let's see if you can redirect one hundred swords. This is what happens when you mess with my friends! Blumenblatt!"

Demenza held up her hands and covered a few of the swords in an attempt to stop them, but she didn't have the time or the magic to concentrate and stop then all. A dozen swords hung limply in the air as Demenza held them back, but the other eighty-eight swords sped at her at the same time.

"Damn it!" she gave up trying to hold back the swords and instead made a psychic bubble to protect herself. A few blades bounced off, but many more took their place and sliced through Demenza's bubble.

* * *

To Lucy's dismay, Valter pulled out a silver celestial key. Lucy distinctly remembered her battle with Angel. It had been awful to have to fight spirits, and to know that mages mistreated their spirits. She remembered when she learned from Loke how Karen had been an abusive master towards Aries.

"Open! Gate of the Seven-headed Snake! Hydra!" Valter said, turning the silver key in his hand. The gate opened as a huge serpent slithered out, or rather seven serpents. Lucy then realized that the seven snakes were all connected to one body, a huge scaly body that was dragon-like, yet it lacked arms. It had legs as thick as tree trunks and a long, spiked tail. It's poison green scales shone in the afternoon light, glittering like emeralds. It would have been beautiful, until it opened its mouth to reveal several rows of razor sharp teeth, each as thin as a hair.

"Silver keys are weaker than golden keys, and most are used for support," Lucy said, looking up at the vicious beast Valter had just summoned. That tail was definitely going to be a problem.

"Maybe so," Valter agreed, "but a spirit's strength also depends on that of their master's. Not to mention many silver keys have offensive capabilities. Let us pit our spirits against each other and see who comes out victorious. You may have golden keys, but my magic is stronger than yours."

"That's it. You don't respect your spirits do you? Well then, I have no qualms about taking you out. My spirits and I are friends, and we can overcome your power," Lucy said, reaching for her keys.

Valter rolled his eyes. "Your just like those other celestial mages I defeated. I'll be happy to take your golden keys once I defeat you."

Lucy glared at him. This guy was just like Angel, but she had a feeling he was stronger. He just had silver keys, but he was going to be an equally matched opponent. Lucy felt Orion put his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry Lucy-san. I got your back. My spirits and I will do our best to help you," he smiled.

"Wait, you mean your-

"Yup. I'm a Celestial Mage too. Of course, I didn't fight this guy, because I was off on a job. So I have no idea what tricks he has up his sleeve!"

"How comforting," said Lucy weakly.

"Really? How so?"

"That was sarcasm."

"Oh. Korro uses that a lot."

"Well," said Valter smirking, "looks like I'll be adding several keys to my collection. Two Celestial Mages in one day. How fortunate."

**Can't wait to write out Lucy's battle! Silver spirits are strong so don't underestimate them! Wendy and the others will run into a bit of trouble soon. Thank you for reading.**

**I hope I managed to explain Psychic Magic and Assess Magic well enough...**


	5. Stones Will Break Bones

**Thank you for reading my story so far. Hopefully, things are improving. The battles are going rather quickly, but you guys will see why soon. Let's just say that things take a turn for the worst. **

**Chapter 5: Stones Will Break Bones**

"Overkill much," Valda asked while staring down at Demenza's unconscious form.

"She hurt you and I can be a little overkill when people hurt my friends," Erza said, going back to her usual armor Heart Kreuz Armor.

Valda smiled sadly. "I am honored to be called your friend."

* * *

"We need to find Wendy. Hopefully she's not in any danger," Natsu said as he and Delaraz were carrying Romano. It was a bit awkward because Natsu was taller then Dela, but they were both tired and Dela felt guilty letting Natsu carry Romano by himself.

"Happy!" Dela called, looking up as the Exceed flew over the tree tops. "What do you see?"

"Hm. I spy, with my far-seeing eyes...whoa!" Happy exclaimed.

"What is it?"

"A huge stone column just rose out of the tree tops!"

"That must be Pamela. She uses Stone Magic. Anything else?" Delaraz asked. She had fought Pamela the last time, so she was slightly worried about facing her again.

"Yeah. I also saw an ice column."

"Must be Gray!" Natsu interjected angrily. "That jerk gets to hog all the fun! I'll show him!" Natsu sped off in the general direction that Happy had been pointing to, leaving Dela alone to carry Romano.

"Natsu come back!" Happy yelled, going after him.

"Yeah! I can't carry Romano by myself!"

* * *

"Are you okay Gray?"

"Fine," Gray said, waving Korro away. Thanks to Korro's super speed, the two mages had managed to dodge Pamela's rockslide. "This girl's strong. How are we going to beat her?"

"That's just it. You can't beat me," Pamela cackled. "Honestly, why would you return after losing to us? Hoping Fairy Tail could help you? Oh well, we do have Fairy Tail to thank."

"Thank? For what?!" Gray asked confused. After fighting so many dark mages for so long, he knew that it was best to keep them talking. This stalled for time in case any help was to come, or the villain might reveal crucial information during their lengthy monologue.

"For taking care of Oracion Seis. Not to mention weakening Grimoire Heart. Two powers fell, causing a power vacuum. You do know what that is?"

"Of course," Gray said angrily, "when a power is overthrown, there's a vie for power by the lesser powers."

"Come again?" Korro asked scratching his head. It was usually Penwyn who knew this sort of stuff, and while Korro was not stupid, he wasn't smart either.

"It means with the Baram Alliance crumbling, lesser dark guilds are fighting for a position on top," Gray explained.

"Exactly. With the tablet, Ombra Drakon will rise to the top. We must hurry before Tartaros makes their move."

"Tartaros?"

"Never you mind. I've already said to much. Tartaros' plans are just rumors among the dark guilds," Pamela said, shaking her head. Dark guilds usually stayed out of Tartaros' affairs. Not out of respect, but out of fear. There was something just not right about that guild...

"Alright Korro," Gray whispered, "what kinds of masks do you have?"

"Um, speed, strength, three elemental-

"Elemental?"

"Yes. Just fire, water and thunder."

"Are you two done gossiping?" Pamela huffed like a child trying to drag his mother out of the store. "I'm tired of playing around with you. Now watch as I demonstrate my magic's full capabilities."

Pamela closed her eyes in concentration as several spell circles lit up by her feet. A whirlwind of stones swirled around her until she was covered in a veil of earth. The stone thickened and gradually grew as it began to form an actual body. The whirlwind ceased to reveal Pamela encased in a stone suit, with only her face visible.

"My Stone Suit. Your attacks will be useless against it. Go ahead and try. It will amuse me."

"Ice Make! Lances!" Needless to say, the ice shattered into several fragments.

"Requip! Mask of Water!" Korro requipped to a peacock blue mask that only covered the top half of his face. He shot a funnel of water, leaving Pamela's suit drenched, but unfazed.

"Ooh. A thousand more shots and maybe my suit will begin to erode!" Pamela mocked.

Gray silently cursed. They could eventually beat her suit down, but if would be optimal if they could beat her in a few attacks, or even one. It was quite a farfetched idea though, unless...

Gray glanced over at Korro, who was still wearing his Water Mask. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Hope so."

* * *

"Open! Gate of the Eagle! Aquila!" Orion announced. A young woman with long brown hair and eagle wings appeared. Her arms were covered with down and her clothes, a white top and brown skirt, also appeared to be feathery. Her legs were completely covered with feathers and her feet were eagle talons.

"Okay Aquila, please beat that Hydra."

"No problem," she said shrugging. "Feather Wave!" A tornado of feathers engulfed Hydra, slashing at him, causing him to bleed out golden blood. One head came clean off, and it fell to the ground, floundering like a Magikarp.

"Sorry about that, but looks like your spirit is out of commission," Orion said. Orion felt extremely guilty about his action, but it had been necessary.

"Not exactly."

"Eh?" Sure enough, the stump where the head had been began to bubble and froth, and then two heads sprouted out.

"I wouldn't recommend cutting its heads off. We need fire if I remember correctly," Lucy said. She vaguely recalled some sort of story about a man fighting a many headed serpent that sprouted two heads when one was cut off. He had cut off a head and burnt the stump where the head use to be to ensure it wouldn't regenerate.

"Fire. On it. Open! Gate of the Fox! Vulpecula!" Out came a young girl with red hair that had fox ears sticking out of it. She wore a white and red dress, along with black boots. She also had a fox tail.

"Pleased to be of service," she mumbled, bowing to Orion.

"Enough with that! There's no need for formalities! Okay, now when Aquila slices off a head, you burn the stump."

"Okay."

Aquila launched another vicious assault, but Valter remained perfectly calm as he pulled out another silver key.

"Open. Gate of the Shield. Scutum!" A small star patterned shield appeared and blocked Aquila's attack. Hydra took this opportunity to swat Aquila down with his spike tail. She was caught by surprise and didn't have time to dodge that, or his next attack, which was a spray of poison. She screamed and held up her arms instinctively, not that it helped. Her feathers began falling off like leaves in autumn and her arms were covering her badly burned face.

"Ah! Aquila go back!" Orion yelled as he forced her gate closed. He clenched his fist around her key, hoping she would recover from that acid attack. Spirits always recovered from such attacks, but it would take her awhile.

"Orion. Let me help you out," Lucy said, pulling out a golden key. "Open! Gate of the Scorpion! Scorpio!"

"Get 'em Hydra!" Hydra's eight heads sprayed acid at Scorpio, but Scorpio's Sand Buster smothered out the venom, and blasted right past Scutum, hitting Hydra and burying him in sand.

"Great job!" Lucy said as Hydra and Scutum's gates were closed.

"Nice one!" Orion agreed.

"Well," Valter said, nodding in agreement, "you do know how to use those golden keys. However, let's see how they match up to my secret weapon."

"Secret weapon?"

Valter smirked as he pulled out a silver key, but on closer inspection, Lucy realized it wasn't a silver key. It was silver, but it had chain links around it, like some sort of bonds.

"Wait, that can't be-

"It is," Orion said as the truth dawned on him, "a mythril key."

Valter grinned as he saw their terrified and confused expressions. Raising the key above his head, he cried out joyously, "Open! Gate of the Spider! Aranea!"

* * *

"Great. Just great. I didn't want to run into you two," Arrik grumbled. He had run across Erza and Valda, yet he did not seem intent on fighting them or at least leaving them to wander aimlessly in an illusion. He acted as if he shouldn't bother to fight two of the strongest mages of their guilds.

"Thanks. I feel so wanted," Valda said sarcastically. She didn't want to fight Arrik either (or at least she thought that was Arrik) because she did not know how her magic may adapt to that. She may turn out to be useless in such a battle.

"Well, you've obviously have been in a fight. With whom? Not Valter, he wanted to fight the Celestial Mage. You would have easily beaten Urulu, so you wouldn't be so injured. Either Pamela or Demenza. I can't see Demenza losing though," he muttered, paying them no attention.

"Are you going to fight or-

"No!" Arrik said, snapping back to attention and acting as though fighting them would be as great as cleaning a stable. "You would not be as easily fooled as the other ones I fought."

"Others!" Erza said, looking both furious and concerned.

Arrik shrugged like it was no big deal as he sauntered off into the trees.

"Halt! We will not-

Arrik sighed and snapped his fingers. A green gas surrounded them, causing their eyes to burn and water. Crying out in pain, they rubbed their eyes and blinked several times in hopes of stopping the burning. The two mages lay their, crying as if a vat of chopped onions was in front of them. Once the gas faded and they were able to open their eyes, Arrik was gone.

"Damn! We must follow him!"

* * *

"Yerik! Calm down!" Alexa said as she attempted to restrain him with her Cloth Magic.

"Let me go Alexa! How could you guys let Yves go on such a dangerous trip! He's only a kid!" Yerik said as he struggled to free himself from the strips of cotton Alexa had created.

"He's thirteen," Geoffrey replied. He didn't want to use force to subdue his friend, but he was scared that Yerik would use his magic to resort to freeing himself.

"SO!?"

"He can take care of himself. Besides, I'm sure Valda's with him," Penwyn said, still sitting calmly reading his book. Celestia was doing the same, but Yerik was kicking up such a ruckus that she found hard to concentrate with.

"Alexa. Release me or I will us my magic," Yerik said quietly. Alexa paled and looked over at Celestia for help. Sighing, Celestia got up and put her book aside. She glanced at the four guildmembers with a vacant expression.

"We will go after them. After all, we have discussed about the problem with the tablet," she announced. The guildmembers stood shocked by her response.

"Shouldn't think this through further!" Geoffrey said.

"We've talked about it enough! You seemed to be the only one opposed to it anyway Geoffrey," Celestia snapped. "We must go now. I've told you guys about what's to come. Fairy Tail will help us now, but after they beat Ombra Drakon, there will be consequences."

Penwyn put away his book to show that he was giving complete attention to her. "Yes. You've told us about the tablet and the dangers."

"They'll need our help. No arguments." Celestia looked at Geoffrey when she said this. Geoffrey opened his mouth to argue, but closed his mouth, looking abashed. The mages began to file out of the entrance hall, but Yerik lingered to talk with Geoffrey.

"I know you have a hard time accepting this Geoffrey, but you need to trust us. Trust Guildmaster. We are your family after all."

"Yes, but I am not entirely sure what to think."

"Everyone has had their doubts, but do this for me," Yerik said, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder and giving him a pleading look.

"Geoffrey."

They turned to see Celestia leaning on the door, her eyes locked on Geoffrey.

"You do trust me, right?" she asked.

"Of course Guildmaster," Geoffrey grinned, "we would follow you to the ends of the world. Now let's go help our friends!"

* * *

"Ugh. Juvia-san are you okay?" Lena asked, nudging her friend in an attempt to get a response. Juvia groaned. Lena cast her a look of concern, then requiped a harp. "The Restoration Song should help. It cures mild illnesses, so I'm sure it will work." Lena began playing her harp and singing a sweet tune that seemed to cheer up the forest itself. The color in Juvia's face returned and she began to stir.

"L-Lena-san? What happened?" Juvia groaned as she sat up.

Lena stopped playing. "We were ambushed. Luckily, we're okay. Odd that they didn't finish us off. Don't move so much, my song doesn't heal, more like rejuvenates."

"Juvia is okay. We should find the others though."

* * *

"Guys, someone's coming towards us. It's Arrik the Illusion Mage," Vidya warned. "We'd better stick together or we might get lost in his illusions. Hold hands." Wendy grabbed Yves hand and then Vidya's while Carla landed on Wendy's head, ready to grab her and fly off if the need arose. Vidya frowned. Wendy was holding Yves hand, and the way they spoke so casually to each other...no. It was just her imagination. She needed to concentrate right now.

"There!" Wendy exclaimed as she used her Sky Dragon's Roar. The blast seemed to have disrupted the air as a spot shimmered, then disappeared. Arrik tumbled out from his hiding place.

"Well, that was unexpected," he cursed while dusting himself off. Vidya reprimanded herself. She was lost in her own thoughts and hadn't realized that Arrik was already there.

"Alright Yves, pay attention to the screen in front of you," Vidya said creating a screen at that moment.

"He can't mess with my magic, or what you see on the screen. Illusion Magic can't cover up other magics, but don't trust your other senses. Don't trust anything you see other than the screen. Now Wendy-

"Don't worry, my heightened Dragon Senses are very reliable, I can smell him and hear him. His illusions don't seem that effective against me."

"Pretty neat Wendy," Yves nodded as he equipped a bow. "It'll be difficult shooting while looking at a screen, but I can manage."

"Archery Magic huh? That's so cool."

"If you two could stop admiring each other for one second and focus on the battle, that would be great!" Vidya yelled.

"A couple of kids, this will be easy," Arrik smirked, rubbing his hands together.

"He also uses Gas Magic you guys," Vidya warned. "Wendy, your powers will be very useful for counteracting that. However, he isn't able to use both magics at the same time as his Illusion Magic requires full concentration."

"Seems like things will be to our advantage then."

_Damn it. Master Isidro was correct. That girl with Assess Magic is good as a support mage. Next time I'll separate them in a more strategic fashion. I must capture her as she will be very useful in finding the lost ruins, _thought Arrik.

* * *

"Mask of Water! Full Blast!" Korro unleashed a powerful torrent of water that knocked Pamela off her feet. He carefully oriented the wave so that he and Gray wouldn't get caught in it. The water disappeared, leaving Pamela drenched, but unfazed.

She got up angrily. "What a nuisance! You only managed to knock me down, but my Stone Suit survived your pathetic attack."

"That's what you think. Now it's your turn Gray-san," Korro said.

"On it! Ice Make: Freeze!" Gray blasted Pamela with an icy wind, which began to form a thin layer on her Stone Suit.

"Too easy," she mocked moving slightly and shattering the ice.

"Water Mask: Water Control!" Korro waved his hand and Pamela noticed several cracks in her suit.

"What the-

"Ice Make: Freeze!" Gray froze her suit again and Pamela saw the cracks widen.

"Damn! I know what you're doing! Water got into my suit earlier and now you're freezing it to expand it and erode my suit!" Pamela said.

"You are correct!" Korro cried. "Now that it's weakened-

The two mages put their palms together as they began to radiate vast amounts of magical energy. Pamela was scrabbling to fix her Stone Suit as chunks of it were falling off, and she had to hurry before Gray and Korro attacked. However, Gray and Korro then completed their Unison Raid a huge funnel of water with icicles shot at Pamela, quickly crumbling her suit. The entire area was frozen in ice and Pamela began to be encased in it as well. Their Unison Raid was flawless, but Pamela refused to give up.

"I'm not finished yet!" she roared. Slamming her fist into the ground, a seismic wave rippled through the ground, knocking the two off their feet, and stopping their Unison Raid. The ice covering the ground shattered and some of the trees began to tip over slightly, which gave Korro an idea.

"Duplicate Mask!" He requipped a plain white mask that covered his entire face. Pounding his fists into the ground as Pamela had done previously, the earthquake caused several trees to fall down, one of which, hit Pamela, burying her beneath its branches. Korro dequipped his mask while Gray cautiously walked over to Pamela. Moving and pulling some branches away, he found that she was knocked out, but okay aside from that and a few leaves in her hair.

"She's okay, but making a huge oak crush someone is a little harsh," Gray said. Not to mention, the trees were still slightly covered with ice.

"Sorry. My Duplicate Mask just copies the last spell a person did, but powers it up."

"Why didn't you do that when she used her Stone Suit!?"

"It can't duplicate seriously powerful and complicated spell like that!"

"Okay, okay. Well, we should probably find the others-

On cue, Natsu appeared at the battle scene, grinning like a mad-man in anticipation, only to be disappointed to find that the battle was over. Happy drifted into the scene shortly after him.

"Well, we found Natsu-san and Happy-san-

"No way! You actually beat her! Damn it! You get all the fun!" Natsu complained.

"Well have you been in a fight recently? Doesn't look like it judging by your clothes." Gray said.

"At least I'm wearing all my clothes," he shot back. "Ice Stripper."

"Flame Brain."

"Snow Cone Face-

"Oi you two," Korro interjected, "cut it out. What are you twelve? We have to find the others, Natsu-san, were you just with Happy-san?"

"Eh?" Natsu turned his head away from Gray to address Korro. "No. I was with Romano and Del."

"So where are they now?" Gray asked.

"Er, back there probably." Natsu mumbled like a guilty child and pointed in the vague direction from where he had arrived.

Korro sighed. "Thank you for specifications." The group went off in search of Romano and Delaraz.

* * *

Lucy let out a scream and Orion wanted to as well when he saw the thing. He would never call a spirit ugly, but this one was, well, hideous. Orion had always been terrified of spiders, any normal person would be, but this gargantuan beast could actually eat him. The thing was pitch-black and hairy all over, its leg span was probably twice Orion's height. Its pincers as long as his arm and its red, beady eyes the size of his fist.

Orion gulped. "Lucy-san, you wouldn't happen to have a really big magazine you could lend me?"

Lucy was terrified out her right mind. She wanted that thing out of her sight! "Scorpio! Drown that thing in sand!"

Scorpio nodded, "We are. Eat this you bloated spider! Sand Buster!" The blast was as if a small breeze had blown sand into one's eye; it was painful and annoying (not to mention it had eight eyes) but overall, not very effective.

"Psh. That was pathetic. Allow me to show you the true power of a spirit. Aranea, show them what you can do!" Valter said smugly.

**Please comment, and thank you if you do. In the next chapter, Lucy and Orion face off against Valter while Wendy and the others fight Arrik. Will the rest of Stella Luminosa arrive to help, or are they coming in anticipation of something even worse then a dark guild?**


	6. The Forbidden Keys

**Here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter 6: The Forbidden Keys**

"Fire Arrows!" Yves launched another volley of flaming arrows at Arrik, it hit a tree, which turned out to be Arrik. Wendy took this opportunity to use her Sky Dragon's Claw. Arrik sent out a wave of green gas, which Wendy easily blew away with her Sky Dragon's Roar.

"Damn it, my illusions are useless, as is my Gas Magic. I can't be beaten by a bunch of kids. However-" he trailed off as he noticed the arrival of Erza and Valda, which he could use to his advantage.

"Slayer Blast!" Valda yelled out, the white energy turned blue as it sped towards Arrik.

"Guys, Erza-san and Valda-san are here. Careful though, I can't send them a map unless they're near me, so they may attack us by accident-

"Vidya look out!" Wendy yelled. Vidya had been to distracted warning Yves and Wendy that she hadn't seen the attack coming towards her on her screen. The blue energy hit her, and she collapsed in pain and shock. Yet, she still retained consciousness as her Assess screens were still functional.

"That was simple," Arrik smirked. "The Hunter thought she would attack me, but she hit you instead."

"You should remain attentive too you know," Vidya gasped as she struggled to get up. Arrik turned around, and sure enough, there stood Erza and Valda, now with screens in front of them, courtesy of Vidya.

"You'll pay for that," Valda said quietly as the white energy turned a mauve. "Making me hurt my comrade. You'll regret it! Slayer Slash!"

The attack was too fast for Arrik to dodge, but he didn't give up. Valda sent another dozen attacks, and it didn't help that he was outnumbered. Even if he managed to beat the Hunter, he'd have to deal with Titania. Not to mention he was being clobbered by those kids earlier.

"Poison Fume!"

"Sky Dragon's Roar!"

"Thanks Wendy-kun," Valda said. The mauve energy faded into a bright green. The energy kept building up and Valda placed her palms next to each other. "Slay all that stands in your way. Cataclysm!"

A blinding surge of energy rushed towards Arrik. For a moment, the the others could see nothing but green, and then white. As they regained their vision, they saw that Arrik was knocked out, yet oddly enough, the forest and was unscathed by that powerful attack.

"Don't worry," Valda said gruffly, "Unless you or our surroundings use Gas Magic, you won't be hurt."

Groaning, she collapsed to her knees, and Erza ran up to her to keep her from falling.

"Damn it. Did you have to overdo it!" Erza scolded. "You got out of a battle and you go into another one. You used up a lot of magic with that attack."

Valda laughed weakly, and then became sober. "How's Vidya?"

"She's alright," said Yves, who had dequipped his bow and was holding a half-conscious Vidya in his arms. Wendy went over to Vidya and knelt besides Yves.

"Don't worry, I'll heal her up quickly. Sky Dragon's Healing Spell!" Wendy's hands glowed blue as she began healing Vidya.

"Sorry about attacking you," Valda said.

"No worries. I'm fine," Vidya responded. Wendy began healing Valda and then Erza.

"Wendy's magic sure is useful and amazing huh?" Yves said.

"Hmph. Yeah, whatever," Vidya grumbled, turning away from Yves. Yves always admired others, such as his brother, but never someone younger then him. Sure, Wendy was year younger than both of them, but still! She sat there silently fuming while Wendy patched everyone up.

"We should go find the others," Yves said, breaking the silence.

"Indeed, but before we do-" Erza turned to where Arrik was. She marched over to him, lifted him by the collar of his jacket, and then punched him. He groaned.

"Erza-san!"

"Oi! I know you can hear me, and I want answers!" Erza yelled. "Where's the tablet!"

'The t-tablet?"

"Erza," Valda said stepping over to her, "you're not doing it right. Here let me." Valda grabbed Arrik's collar and slapped him. "Don't play dumb! You know about the tablet!"

"Y-yes!"

"Where is it!?" she yelled, slapping him again.

"Master Isidro has it! We've translated it, but we must find the sacred ruins."

"Are you lying!?" she said, slapping him.

"No! I had orders to capture the Assess Mage to help us find the ruins."

"Where is your master?" she asked, slapping him.

"O-our secret base. Ask the Assess Mage! She may be able figure it out, but we have enchantments set around it."

Valda continued to interrogate Arrik, slapping him each time she asked a question or got a response.

"I can see how she and Erza-san get along. Birds of a feather, flock together." Vidya said as she pulled up a map to search for their secret base. She may be able to track it, but it would be difficult.

Carla gasped as a premonition flashed before her eyes. She stood shocked, mulling over what she just saw. Ruins falling down on the mages. Lucy screaming as Orion ran over to help her. A girl that appeared to be made of mist, staring down with a sad expression. A dark, shadowy form crawling out from a portal...

It couldn't be real, she misinterpreted it. Either way she had to do something about it.

"Wendy, may I talk to you in private for a moment?"

"Sure Carla."

* * *

"So Juvia-san, what's your relation with Gray-san? You seem to talk about him a lot," Lena asked.

"Gray-sama is Juvia's! You are my love rival!" Juvia yelled.

"What?" Lena said, taken aback by this accusation. "Of course not. I barely know Gray-san and he has...unusual habits." Lena couldn't help but blush remembering when Gray stripped after the train ride.

"Love rival!" Juvia snarled as she noted Lena's blush.

"No! Nothing like that! Besides, I think you and Gray-san would make a cute couple!"

"R-really!?"

"Of course! Hm?" Lena turned around. "Did you hear something?"

"No."

"Must have been-eek!" Lena shrieked and jumped back as she heard the bushes rustling. She was relieved to find that it was just Delaraz carrying Romano.

"Ah! Del! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry. Could you guys, um," Dela motioned towards Romano whom she was struggling to carry.

"Sure," Juvia said, walking over to help Dela.

"Honestly, your top five mages, four of which have been defeated. Got to do everything myself these days," grumbled a disembodied voice.

Turning around, they saw a man, clutching a slab of stone, walk out of the bushes. The man consulted a dozen rolls of parchment he was lugging around. The man looked rather young, probably late twenties, with shoulder-length black hair, dressed in all black as though he planned to attend a funeral. He turned around as though he had just realized that they were there.

"Ah! You must be from Fairy Tail and Stella Luminosa. You're the ones who have defeated my generals. The Assess girl isn't with you, not that it would help anymore. Just found out that the ruins are Unplotable. Pity. Oh well," he glanced at a piece of parchment before continuing. "She may be able to translate these scrolls though. I know now that the ruins will appear to the holder of the tablet, but they have to be a Celestial Mage. I need to find Valter, so if you'll kindly step out of the way-

"The tablet is our reason for being here," Lena said, bravely stepping towards the man. "Hand it over and there won't be any trouble."

"Do you know whom you are addressing?"

"Some guy from Ombra Drakon who talks to himself."

"The _leader _of Ombra Drakon who talks to himself," he corrected. "The name's Isidro."

"Oh. This is bad," Lena muttered. Most of them had been unconscious when the leader of Ombra Drakon had appeared. Only Valda, Korro, Romano, and Yves had seen him.

"Are we sure that's him?" Del asked. "Master said that Isidro was violent and sadistic and this guy"- the girls turned to watch Isidro who was attempting to balance the scrolls in his hand by putting some in his mouth- "not very threatening."

"Don't judge a book by its cover," Juvia said.

* * *

"Scorpio!"

"Vulpecula!"

The spirit Aranea had ensnared the two in her webs as she sent poison needles at them now that they were helpless. Lucy and Orion quickly closed their gates before the spirits were harmed.

"Looks like we should go on the defensive. Open! Gate of the Chameleon! Pascal!" Orion announced flourishing a silver key.

Out came a young boy with green hair and a black jacket that resembled scales. He wore a white shirt underneath and tan cargo pants. He grinned at Orion, "What's up boss? How can I serve you?"

"Pascal, camouflage Lucy and I. And stop calling me 'boss.'"

"Whatever you say boss." The three disappeared just in time to avoid Aranea's attack.

Valter growled in frustration. "That's not going to work. Aranea, spin a web around the vicinity. If they even move, they'll get stuck in your trap." Aranea shot out webs and began weaving around an elaborate trap. The three stood petrified, not daring to move.

"We have to go on the offensive," Lucy whispered.

"Mythril keys are said to be as strong as golden keys, so use your strongest spirit," Orion whispered back reaching for his own keys. "However, I should cut through these webs first."

Orion smiled and pulled out a knife hilt, it looked like a plain, useless hilt to Lucy, but then it grew a sharp bluish blade. It was similar in make to her whip, meaning it was from the celestial world.

"Celestial Hunting Knife. I like to fight alongside my spirits."

"As do I," Lucy smiled brandishing her fleuve d' 'etoiles.

"Okay, Pascal, you can return." Orion said, closing the gate.

"Sure thing boss." As soon as Pascal disappeared, they became visible and Orion slashed through the webs. Lucy pulled out a golden key that was none other then Leo the Lion.

"Don't worry Lucy," Loke said, pushing up his glasses. "Your prince is here to save you."

"Just deal with the spider," Lucy grumbled.

"Wow. This thing is bigger than the last spider you called me for."

"Oh shut up."

"Alright, my turn," Orion said cheerily, pulling out a silver key. "Open! Gate of the Hunting Dogs! Sirius!" A young man dressed in a dress shirt, pants, shoes, and tie appeared. He had black hair and eyes, and was handsome with his wild, playful smile and puppy-like eyes.

"Ah, Canis Venatici. Never thought we'd meet outside the Celestial Spirit World," Loke grumbled.

"Same could be said to you Leo Major."

"The name's Leo, or Loke."

"Well my name's Sirius."

"Um, guys," Lucy said interrupting their staring contest. "Can we deal with the spider spirit first?"

"Of course fair lady," Sirius said, pushing Loke away and grabbing Lucy's hand.

"I would be in your best interest to _not _flirt with my owner," Loke said, pushing Sirius away.

"It would be in my best interest if you guys helped me!" Orion yelled, cutting through the webs and fending off Aranea.

"Right then," Sirius said, snapping back to attention. He transformed into a huge dog and howled towards the sun, causing other dogs to appear. Lucy then saw that these weren't dogs, rather dogs made out of shadows which Sirius had created.

Loke did not wish to be out-done by Sirius. He attacked Aranea with Regulus Blast. The spider hissed and was blown back by the blast. She didn't have time to dodge Loke's attack because she had been fending off Sirius' hounds. Orion had climbed onto her back and was now stabbing at her with his knife, causing golden blood to ooze out.

Orion looked both disturbed by the sight of blood and upset at hurting a spirit, even if it was evil and wanted to eat him. Lucy launched out her whip to wrap around Aranea's legs, knocking the beast down and leaving it wide open for an attack. Orion had rolled off her back when Lucy had tripped it, he got up, and barely managed to block Valter's attack. Valter was wearing gauntlets that had blades protruding from his knuckles, so they were wolverine-like.

"I can fight with my spirits too you know," he said as Orion parried each blow. Man, thought Lucy, did that kid train with Romano because he's good.

"I find it rather shocking that you would care so much for your spirits," Orion said. He moved swiftly as Valter had the advantage of two weapons.

"I don't. Aranea, retreat."

Aranea returned to the celestial spirit world to heal, and Valter pulled out another mythril key.

"Open. Gate of the Leech. Hirudo." Orion couldn't help but yelp at the sight of that thing. Aranea was scary enough, but now a giant leech! That was plain terrifying. The thing could move pretty quickly, and it slithered over to where Lucy and the others were.

"What is that!" Lucy shrieked, moving away from it.

"Hirudo the Leech. A mythril key, he was one of the ones demoted to mythril because of, uh, reasons," Sirius said, still in dog form.

"What reasons?"

'Well," Loke said as they all backed away, "they broke the rules set by the Celestial King, or else they were sealed away because they were insane. That's how mythril keys come to be, though not all of them are bad, some are just insane and deadly."

"Please tell me this is one of the friendly ones," Lucy groaned.

"Nope."

Hirudo tackled Lucy and stuck onto her leg. She screamed and Loke hit him away with Regulus Impact. Sirius bit into Hirudo, but for a leech, it was strong. It trashed and squirmed and used its own size to free itself from and them latched onto Sirius. Loke helped Lucy up, as she was feeling dazed and nauseous. Sirius summoned his hounds, which attacked Hirudo, knocking him off. Sirius whimpered and looked at where Hirudo bit him, only to find no wound. Lucy looked down at her leg to find that she was okay, much to her surprise.

"Hirudo doesn't cause any physical damage," Loke explained, "he saps your magical power instead, that's why you feel dizzy Lucy. Not to mention, he'll go after the person with the most magical power, which is why he went after Lucy instead of Orion. No offense Orion."

"None taken!" Orion yelled as he continued his fight with Valter. He quickly side-stepped and began to circle around Valter as he tried to find an opening. They were both short-range weapon users, so Orion made sure to keep his distance. Every now and then he dash towards Valter, having seen an opening, but after failing to land a hit, he would retreat once more.

"Oh, so that's why he went for me instead of you Leo," Sirius said as he mimicked Orion's moves of circling his opponent.

"Hey, shut up you mutt! He probably thought you would be an appetizer!" Loke yelled, stepping in front of Lucy as the two copied Sirius and Orion, keeping their distance from Hirudo. Hirudo was occupied by Sirius' hounds, so now was an optimal time to strike, if only Loke and Sirius hadn't been bickering.

"Mutt!? Look who's talking you overgrown kitten!" Sirius snarled, turning towards Loke and forgetting the issue at hand.

"Why don't you put your tail between you legs and run off to lick your wounds!" Loke responded, glaring at Sirius and ignoring Hirudo.

"At least I don't cough up hair balls!"

"Why you-

"Oi!" Lucy said pushing them away from each other (it looked rather odd too because Sirius was still in his dog form). "Sirius' hounds won't last long against that thing. We need to work together to beat Hirudo."

Orion overheard their discussion, and knew he had to beat Valter to get rid of Hirudo. He had to, this guy didn't respect his spirits. Orion had always loved his spirits, they were his family, he had wanted to be a celestial wizard ever since he was a kid. It was such a lonely childhood, with a horrible family and no friends aside from the stars.

"I don't hate my spirits or mistreat them," Valter said, interrupting Orion's thoughts. "I'm their master and they just know their place. Is that so wrong. Maybe I do use them as shields, but it's part of my strategy."

"So they're pawns to you is that it," Orion growled as anger surged through him.

"Aranea and Hirudo are grateful towards me. I freed them. Hydra and Scutum could never reach their true potential working with that weak wizard. I'm giving them the chance to do so. The same goes for Draco, my final key."

"Draco!" Orion exclaimed shocked as he realized which key that was.

Valter smiled at his discomfort. "Yes, the Gate of the Dragon. Would you like me to introduce you to him. Your friends seem to be having fun with Hirudo." The other were using long-ranged attacks and Sirius and Loki did their best to protect Lucy because Hirudo seemed keen on eating her magic.

"You have the tablet don't you?" Orion asked. "After all, a Celestial Mage is needed to use it."

"Nope. Master Isidro has the tablet right now. I didn't even know a Celestial Mage had to be the one to hold the tablet. Odd that you knew. Oi! Hirudo! Quit being so picky and drain the boy!" Valter yelled. Hirudo turned around, looked slightly disappointed, and slithered over to Orion.

"Oh no you don't!" Lucy hit the leech with her whip to get its attention, which worked, though she regretted it. Hirudo reared up to make itself look bigger, it opened its maw, displaying several rows of razor sharp teeth, and it hissed at Lucy. Saliva dribbled down its open mouth and onto its belly. It crawled back to attack them, causing Valter to sigh in disappointment.

"Hirudo's appetite always wins out. See, if you don't assert your authority over them, your spirits aren't reliable. Your spirit, Canis Venatici, could be helping you right now, but he's not. Shame. You'd have an advantage because I can't open another gate when I have a mythril gate opened," Valter said.

Orion smirked. "Well news flash, I can open another gate because all I have are silver keys."

"The chameleon is used for defense and the eagle was badly wounded by Hydra's poison," Valter said recalling all the spirits Orion had used.

"I can still call someone. Lucky I closed her gate before she got hurt," Orion said, pulling out a key. "Open! Gate of the Fox! Vulpecula!"

Vulpecula appeared again, still fit to fight. "Ring of Fire!" she cried. A huge flaming ring appeared around Valter and Hirudo, scorching them if they tried to get out of it.

"Ha! Trapped you!"

"That's what you think! Hirudo, go back!" Hirudo returned, causing the ring of fire to disappear. Valter smirked as he pulled out a silver key. "The strongest silver key. I'm sure you know whom."

Orion's eyes grew wide as Valter cackled with glee. "Open! Gate of the Dragon! Draco!" The dragon was peacock blue with cerulean blue wings, and golden eyes that glittered like stars. It...it was...

"Adorable," Vulpecula said. They all stared at the petite "beast" that yawned cutely rather then roaring menacingly. Orion sweat-dropped.

"That's the super awesome powerful spirit you were talking about!?"

"Careful Orion," Sirius warned (now in his human state), "looks are deceiving."

"Yeah. It could be like that rabbit from that movie." Vulpecula said with a straight face.

"You mean the one with those guys going to find a sacred grail or whatever?" Lucy asked.

"That's the one!"

"Oh yeah, that was a hilarious movie," Loke agreed.

"Actually," Valter cut in, "Draco just appears in this form sometimes. Turn into your true form." Draco nodded, and his eyes turned sharp and angular. His teeth began to elongate and protrude from his mouth as his jaw also began to grow to accommodate the large fangs. His stumpy arms began to sprout claws as they grew to the size of trash cans and his legs were as thick as an oak tree. The transformation was odd as random parts of him grew, making him disproportionate. Draco's body began to even out and lastly, his wings stretched out, though he had to fold them to avoid hitting the trees. The petite baby dragon had now morphed into a gargantuan beast, almost as big as the ones they had faced during the Great Magic Games.

"Oh man!" Orion yelled glancing up at the beast. "I liked the cute form better!"

"Now to power him up. Star Break!" Valter announced as he began to glow gold.

"Star Break!?" Lucy asked.

"We're in trouble." Loke gasped as he recognized the name of the forbidden spell.

**I had fun writing Lucy and Orion's battle. The conclusion to come next chapter. As well as the start of Juvia, Lena, and Del's battle with Isidro. Romano will probably try to help though. What did Carla see? Is it tied with what Celestia's worrying about? How much does Orion know about the tablet? Is he hiding something? **


	7. Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary

**Now for the conclusion to their battle with Ombra Drakon, or so they think.**

**Chapter 7: Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary**

The trio turned around to spot Erza, Valda, Wendy, Yves, Vidya and Carla running towards them. They all let out sighs of relief. They were scared of fighting Isidro, although he currently seemed more interested in some butterflies. Vidya took this opportunity to scan him.

"This is bad you guys," Vidya mumbled as she ran her hand through her hair and glanced down at the screen she created. "Spirit Summoning magic is very versatile, as the mage is able to summon lost souls that are not only angry, but have all sorts of special power. It takes a lot of magic though, as the spirits do not wished to be tamed. Plus, the spirits may sometimes possess the mage. Think of these lost spirits as empty shells in search of a body, magic makes them stronger though. They can eat any type to power up. If they get strong enough, they could also possess us."

"So it's in our best interest not to attack," Erza said.

"Not exactly," Vidya said grimly. "They can also possess inanimate objects or anything that's dead."

"Just peachy. So how do we beat them?" Valda asked. She had seen Celestia fighting Isidro from a distance, but she didn't understand his magic well. Not to mention, the two guildmasters never struck a single blow on each other.

"Light magic is super effective because this is dark magic. Physical attacks don't work on these things. We can also try to placate the spirits or turn them against him. They have a will of their own that can overpower his control," Vidya said.

* * *

Draco began radiating golden energy just like Valter, he grew and his eyes turned solid gold. He began trashing around and foaming at the mouth. He roared in agony and was writhing around on the ground. It was horrifying to watch.

"What are you doing!?" Lucy screamed.

Valter grinned. "Just powering him up. Sure he becomes a bit berserk, but he'll crush you. Kill them Draco."

Draco let out a huge bellow that was heard all the way to the city. Several townspeople crowded around discussing what it could possibly be. Five people had arrived earlier by train, and insisted on going into the forest. The local police warned them against that, as there was something in the forest that wasn't suppose to be there.

"I must advise against it! Forest is like a maze anyway," insisted the man.

"We're capable of handling anything in there. We're guild mages after all," Celestia said.

As they stood there arguing, four Fairy Tail mages were on their way to that same town, with the same intentions.

* * *

"Damn it all," Demenza grumbled as she stood up. Her dress was slightly torn and her hair stuck up. Brushing herself of and examining her wounds, she snapped her fingers and teleported away to an old manor. Snapping her fingers again, she transported Urulu, Pamela and Arrik to the manor as well. They were groaning as they began to regain consciousness.

* * *

"Look out!" Orion yelled. He and Lucy dodged Draco's next attack, and closed the gates of their spirits before they got torched. They were both very exhausted, and Valter showed no signs of being tired. How much power did that guy have?

"You can surrender now," Valter laughed. "Hand over your keys and I'll let you live."

"How can you do this to Draco!? Can't you see it's hurting him!" Orion yelled. "These spirits made a contract with you because they trusted you! Your partners! Your friends! They're not tools, they have feelings too!"

"My spirits know their place. They're willing to make personal sacrifices," Valter shrugged. He always found it so annoying that these Celestial Mages would act so self-righteous and egotistical, thinking they were better than him just by treating some stupid spirits a bit nicer. He despised their high and mighty attitude, and took greet pleasure in ripping their celestial keys out of the cold hands.

"We didn't want to fight you," Lucy said. "But you have no respect towards your spirits, so we're taking you down! I once fought a Celestial Mage named Angel, from Oracion Seis-

"I know that. Fairy Tail took down Oracion Seis, and weakened Grimiore Heart. That's why Ombra Drakon's going to take their place!" Valter said proudly.

"We'll beat you like I beat Angel," Lucy muttered pulling out a key. "Open! Gate of the Twins! Gemini!"

Gemini appeared already transformed as Lucy. Lucy held Gemini's hand and extended her other to Orion.

"We'll beat him, don't worry. Just lend me your power for this spell."

Orion hesitated, then grabbed her hand. "Alright. I trust you Lucy."

* * *

"Nyeh, you guys are boring!" Isidro pouted. Man, they had expected him to be crazy powerful and super sadistic, but this guy was as mature as Yves. He had seemed insane from what they had heard, but he seemed different now. Perhaps he had a split personality.

"Why don't you just leave the tablet and be on your way," Valda said sarcastically.

"Maybe I will. My spirits have informed me that Valter's in huge trouble and that my other four generals have fallen. Without a Celestial Mage, I can't find the ruins."

"Well we're totally cool with not fighting you so give us the tablet-

"Aha! Found them!" Natsu yelled back to Gray and Korro who were running right behind him. He grinned at all his friends, then gestured to Isidro. "So who's this guy?"

"Isidro the leader of Ombra-

"The leader! I'll take him!" Natsu yelled, covering his fist with flames.

"I don't _feel _like fighting today," Isidro complained like a small child. "Can I come back and kill you guys another day?"

"Backing out because your scared of me, huh?" Natsu asked.

This touched a nerve, as Isidro whipped around, glaring daggers at Natsu. His black eyes were no longer lazy-looking, but now full of anger and hatred.

"Uh, Natsu," Vidya said, backing away in fear, "apologize or something. Now."

"What?"

"H-his power level," Vidya mumbled, trembling, "doubled."

"What!?"

"Well," Isidro said deadly quiet, "I changed my mind. I do feel like killing you fairies and stars today." With a wave of his hand, hundreds of spirits flooded to the surface. Vidya had said it took a lot of power to control vengeful spirits, but Isidro did it so easily. "Spirit Rampage."

Natsu scoffed. "Ghosts can't hurt us-

He was proven to be so wrong as the spirits flew through them, sending pain throughout their entire bodies. Even Juvia was affected by them. Isidro smiled as he watched them writhe in pain.

"These spirits attack your soul. Damage to your soul heals only with time and if I attack your soul enough," Isidro grinned evilly. "Well, you die of course. People can never find the cause of death either. I don't like to be messy with my kills."

* * *

The three held hands as Lucy began to chant. "Survey the Heaven, Open the Heaven. All the stars far and wide. Show me thy appearance. With such shine. O Tertrabiblos!"

"No way!" Valter exclaimed backing away as her recognized the incantation. "There's no way you can use that spell!"

"I am the ruler of the stars," Lucy continued. "Aspect become complete. Open the malevolent gate!"

"Draco! Attack them!" Valter ordered regaining his senses.

"O 88 stars of the heaven-

Draco roared and began charging up for a huge flame attack.

"Shine!"

Draco shot out a fire ball that sped towards the trio.

"Urano Metria!"

* * *

Their attacks were useless as the phantoms were too swift to hit. Pain coursed through their bodies, and Dela had no defenses for such a situation. Isidro laughed as he watched them squirm and thrash in pain, enjoying hearing them scream. His smile was quickly whipped off his face once a little ghost came up to him. Natsu didn't hear what it said, but the news angered Isidro. Snapping his fingers, the ghosts dissipated, leaving everyone rolling on the ground, trying to gather the strength to stand, but even Natsu found himself unable to do so.

"Looks like Valter lost. A pity. Whatever. Our work here is through for now," Isidro said. He walked over and dumped the tablet and the various scrolls in front of Natsu. He picked him up by his scarf as though Natsu was a puppy. "But be warned Fairy Tail and Stella Luminosa, we will return for our revenge. All of us."

Isidro dropped Natsu like a brick and pulled out his hand-held Communication Lacrima. "Demenza. Beam me up." With that, he disappeared.

* * *

"Woah, that was a huge blast. What do you suppose it is?"

"I don't know, but I fear for Natsu and the others."

The four Fairy Tail mages had just arrived in town. Seeing the huge dragon in the forest was usually not a good sign. Not to mention the huge blast that just beat it. They confronted the same problem Celestia had had with the police.

* * *

"Hey Lucy, are you okay?" Orion asked. After Lucy's spell defeated Valter, he was teleported away and Lucy collapsed from exhaustion.

Lucy groaned. "I'm fine. I'm okay. Just used a ton of magic in that fight."

"Me too."

"Still to think that any Celestial Mage would be like that, it's just awful," Lucy continued.

Orion glanced away with a sad expression. "Lucy. I have to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"It's just that-

"Orion!"

The two turned around to see five people sprinting towards them. Lucy spotted the Stella Luminosa crest on the hand of a girl with black hair. Obviously, this was the rest of his guild. The blue-haired woman had to be their guildmaster, Celestia, and the green-haired guy looked familiar...

Said guy grabbed Orion by the collar without hesitation. "Listen Orion-," he began.

"I don't know where Yves is Yerik!" Orion cut-in. "I swear! I'm sure he's safe though. He can take care of himself."

"Damn it!" Yerik cursed letting go of Orion. He continued to glare at Orion, causing the latter to squirm. He seemed to think that Orion was lying, but after a while he sighed. Turning to Lucy, he smiled and extended his hand to help her up. Lucy took his hand and he helped Orion up as well.

"Sorry if Yerik frightened you," Geoffrey said to Lucy while bowing. "He's just concerned about his brother."

"Brother?" Lucy then realized why he looked familiar. He was obviously Yves' older brother.

"Of course I'm concerned," Yerik said, frowning at his friend.

"I'm just as worried Yerik. We must find the others," Celestia said. She looked at Orion and gave him a disapproving look, as though he had done something wrong. Lucy smiled, she was probably concerned about him and was just giving him tough love.

* * *

"Man that guy was terrifying," Lena said. Wendy was healing everyone, but they still felt a pain inside their chests. Isidro did say that damage to one's soul only healed with time. Even so, they did feel much better thanks to Wendy.

"Hey, he left us the tablet," Valda shrugged. "That's all that matters."

"Yup, not to mention these scrolls," Vidya said happily as she scanned the scrolls with her magic and began browsing through the info.

"Couldn't you just read the scrolls?" Gray asked.

"This is faster. Plus it translates it."

"Why are you reading them anyway?" Juvia asked.

"We need to find a way to get rid of the tablet. We can't just keep it."

Erza looked over at Natsu, who didn't seem as cheerful as the others at the battle being over. He looked concerned and confused, something was bothering him.

"Natsu what's wrong?" Erza asked.

Natsu looked away. "It's just that, why would Isidro just give us the tablet. Is it a trap. Is he plotting something? After all he said-

"Nastu-san your worrying to much. I doubt they'll attack any time soon," Korro said.

"Still. I have a bad feeling," Natsu muttered. There was something that just didn't seem right, and it was staring him in the face. It was a simple fill-in the blank problem, but what were the blanks!?

Wendy glanced over at Carla to see if she wanted to tell the others about her premonition. Carla did not look to be in the mood to do so. Wendy was sure Carla was keeping part of it to herself, probably not wanting Wendy to worry.

Romano was now awake, and he also looked concerned, but at the same time, guilty. Natsu assumed he was still sore over the battle with Urulu. Probably he was upset over not being able to help when Isidro attacked.

Romano stood up and turned towards Delaraz. "Del can I talk to you for a minute. In private."

Dela looked surprised. "Sure Romano." The two went off.

"Aw how sweet. I always thought those two were a cute couple," Lena said. "Just like another pair of mages I know." She glanced at Juvia and Gray.

Juvia smiled. "Juvia agrees." The two girls giggled, but were quickly silenced by a strict look from Korro.

"Lena this is serious. It's not that," Korro said quietly.

Lena bit her lip and looked away. Korro was right. Romano was worried, they all were. She glanced at the faces of her guildmates and saw it every now and then. They'd be happily conversing with the members of Fairy Tail, but that troubled look always flashed through their eyes.

Juvia spotted said look on Lena's face. "What's wrong?"

Lena tried to look happy. "Oh nothing, just, um, wondering where Lucy and Orion are."

* * *

Lucy and Orion were currently walking through the forest along with Celestia, Yerik, Geoffrey, Alexa and Penwyn. To break that awkward silence, Penwyn began talking about one of his favorite books that he had read a billion times since he was fifteen or so.

"The barricades was simply the most heart-breaking scene. I'll admit I cried when I first read it. The author does not know when to stop killing off characters. He even kills the main character, Jean-

"There are too many characters," Orion complained, holding his head.

"You'd understand if you read the book. Which I have highly recommended for the past few years. Why are you not done with it? It's only thirteen hundred pages or so," Penwyn said.

"You also made me read a bunch of others. Like the one about the rich count and the one with the guy and his portrait," Orion countered.

"I should reread those," Penwyn mused.

"What kind of books do you read?" Lucy asked, genuinely interested.

"Tons! I can loan you some. Of course, I don't always have time to read with all the homework-

"Homework!? You're in college?" Lucy asked astounded. Most people just completed their basic education. She had, of course, been taught by private tutors.

Penwyn looked embarrassed. "Yes. I still plan on remaining in the guild after graduating though."

"Excuse me Lucy-san," Alexa said, pushing in between Penwyn and Lucy. She held up strips of cloth that were different shades of blue. "Which do you prefer? Teal? Cerulean? Aquamarine? Prussian blue? Baby blue?"

"Um, what for?" Lucy asked sweat-dropping.

Alexa puffed out her cheeks and placed her hands on her hips, acting like Lucy had asked a stupid question. "I need to make you a new outfit. Yours got a bit ripped during your battle. So which one do you like better? Maybe jade would be better-

"Don't mind Alexa," Orion said cheerfully as he caught up to them. "She uses Cloth Magic so-

"Speaking of which Orion," Alexa continued, "Which color do you like. I'm thinking maybe a red. Or green. You never dressed right to begin with."

"What's wrong with the way I dress?" Orion said with a hurt expression.

Everyone except Celestia laughed at this comment. Lucy kept wondering why Celestia looked so worried. Orion must have spotted someone because he broke out into his usual grin and waved.

"Romano! Del!"

Lucy spotted the two mages. The two must have been arguing because Dela was in tears and Romano looked guilty.

"Are you guys okay?" Geoffrey asked, frowning.

"Fine," Delaraz mumbled, wiping her eyes. "The others are just up ahead in a clearing. Everyone's fine."

The group proceeded forward, but Romano and Del were held back by Celestia.

"I know what's bothering you guys," Celestia sighed, "but it has to be done. We can have no regrets." Celestia had had her doubts too, but assured herself that their plan would work. Even so, her guild seemed to have been hesitant at first, and she feared they may back out entirely. Her guild was loyal though, so she had no reason to doubt them.

"I know," Del said, "but I'm sure it's bothering the others too."

"Guildmaster I agree with Del," Romano said. "There must be another-

"No!" she snapped. "Now let us proceed."

The rest of Stella Luminosa introduced themselves, though Yerik didn't seem to even notice the fairies. He dashed over to Yves and began fretting over him and reprimanding him for going on such a dangerous mission. Yves simply nodded and looked down, mumbling an apology.

"Good to see you guys!" Wendy said. She went back to healing everyone, but Orion stepped forward and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Take a break Wendy-kun. My friend will help out." Orion smiled and pulled out a silver key. "Open. Gate of the Phoenix. Ankaa."

A young lady with flaming red hair appeared. She was wearing a golden dress that was designed to look feathery. Scarlet wings protruded from her shoulder blades; as did a scarlet and gold tail from her tailbone.

"At your service," she grinned. "Specializing in healing all wounds and ailments. I can also sing and carry very heavy things."

"Okay Ankaa, you don't have to announce yourself whenever I call you," Orion said, sweat-dropping.

Ankaa nodded and knelt down by Natsu. She inspected his injuries and began crying.

"Wh-wh-what!?" Natsu yelled shocked. "I'm sorry-

"Calm down!" Geoffrey laughed. "That's how Ankaa heals you. Phoenix tears have healing powers."

"Phoenixes are curious magical creatures," Penwyn said. "They live for years before bursting into flames and being reborn. Most people believe-

"Okay Penwyn," Valda said cutting-in, " we don't need another lecture."

"Just because someone as uncivilized as you doesn't appreciate my lectures, doesn't mean-

"Me? Uncivilized? Just wait until these fairies are healed," Valda laughed.

Celestia walked over to Vidya, who had finished analyzing the scrolls. She typed quickly on her screen and smiled, showing Celestia the results.

"All done Guildmaster," Vidya said proudly and handed her the tablet.

"Excellent," Celestia said. She turned to address her guild. "Time."

The members of Fairy Tail looked confused and the members of Stella Luminosa got up slowly. Orion returned Ankaa now that everyone was healed.

"Go Master. Everything will be ready by the time you get there," Yerik said. Celestia smiled and ran off with the tablet. Natsu got to his feet.

"What's going on!?" he cried.

Romano smiled sadly. He glanced at Dela, who nodded. He equipped his water broadswords. "Sorry Natsu. We have to capture you guys for Guildmaster to open the gate."

"WHAT!?"

"She also happens to be a Celestial Mage," Lena said. "Opening the gate will grant us access to the Underworld! We have the best intentions, so don't fret."

"Opening that gate is suicide!" Erza yelled.

"We thought you guys would disapprove so we couldn't tell you. You won't be harmed, we just require you vast amounts of magical energy. Please come quietly," Orion said, casting a sad look at Lucy. Lucy realized that was what he wanted to tell her.

"We can't let you guys do this. Besides that forest is a maze, you can't-

"Find the ruins?" Vidya asked, holding up the scrolls. "These scrolls were hard to translate, but I managed. It may have been Unplottable, but these scrolls have everything. Guess Ombra Drakon spent a lot of time digging up this kind of information, and that was why they had yet to find the ruins."

"We will stop you," Erza said fiercely.

"No you won't. You're outnumbered. We have our entire guild here," Valda said.

"Ignore them you guys! Go after Celestia!" Natsu yelled. He had somehow managed to slip past them and was running after Celestia. They all looked shocked.

"Alexa follow him. We'll remain here and capture-

"Catch us if you can!" Happy yelled following the rest of Fairy Tail, all who managed to get past twelve people unnoticed.

"How did they do that!" Penwyn cried.

"You guys are new to this 'villain thing' huh?" Lucy teased.

"Come on!" Yerik ordered as they went in pursuit of the fairies.

_So it was true, _thought Carla. _I didn't tell Wendy the whole truth because she wouldn't believe me, but it was true! They betrayed us! _

**Cliffhanger after a plot twist! Didn't see that coming huh? Next chapter begins the awesome showdown between fairies and stars! What are Celestia's true intentions? Why do they need the power of the Fairy Tail mages? Who are the other four who just arrived? Lots more plot twists to come, but I won't update for a while because I'm a troll like that! Please comment and thank you! Please be patient as things will be explained soon.**


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